The Gamer of The World
by The Black Mew
Summary: Inaba. Quiet, peaceful, and home to the most confusing fucking murder case in history. All of this just because one prick wants to have fun. Oh, and if that isn't bad, what's worse is that the World is in the hands of a kid in high school! Well, at least it isn't a game for just one person. Harem, can't promise a good balance of girls. Now M rated. Persona/The Gamer fanfic
1. Awakening of Power

**Hello everyone. I'm back! I'm sorry for leaving, again,but I'll explain more at the end of this chapter in another AN. I do not own either the Persona franchise or the korean manhwa 'The Gamer' and I'm not going to say it again. I've found that it grows tedious.**

* * *

"Speech"

' _Thought'_

" _Telepathy"_

" _ **Shadows"**_

 **Windows/Skills**

* * *

 **Arc 1: Jester's Folly: Chapter 1: Awakening of power**

… There is only fog… Blinding every inch of this world… It's so thick that some parts of this fog is solid. Unpassable. Clearly, this is no ordinary fog… no… This is the fog… of the mind. Two bright lights cut through the fog and blind a boy wandering in the fog. He covers his eyes, the light of truth is too much for him at the moment… In time… He will be ready…

"With our help of course"

The boy slowly opened his eyes to see that he was in a limo. At least, he thinks it's a limo. He's never been inside of one before.

"Welcome to the Velvet Room."

The boy's head shot towards the voice and there he saw three people. The one on the left seemed shorter that the rest, wearing an all blue dress with an all blue cover on her head. Her hair is much like the boy's own, but her eyes are an eerie yellow. The boy looked to his right, and saw a woman dressed in the same attire sans the cover, her hair the same color as his, but much longer, and she had the same eerie yellow eyes. The boy then looked in between the two others and saw an old man with a VERY long nose, wearing a Bespoke suit, and is crossing his arms in front of him.

"Do not be alarmed. You are fast asleep in the real world. This place is a place between dream and reality. Mind, and matter." The man suddenly smiled so wide, the lights in the limo seemed to darken a bit. "My name is Igor… I am delighted to make your acquaintance" Igor motioned towards the woman. "This is my assistant Margret."

Margaret nodded. "It is a great pleasure to meet you."

"Ahem… excuse me… Master?"

"Ah yes. I apologize. Usually I only have the privilege to introduce one of my assistants. This is Elizabeth."

"Hello."

The boy waved slightly in response.

"This room… It is a room that only those bound by a contract may enter. It may be that such a fate awaits you in the near future." Igor seemed to straighten up slightly. "Now then… Why don't you introduce yourself?"

The boy hesitated for a moment before closing his eyes. ' _I don't know where I am… or how I got here… but… can these three be trusted?'_

"I know what you are thinking." Elizabeth spoke up. "'Can these complete strangers be trusted?'Your arrival here was unique. Instead of us bringing you to our realm, you entered it yourself first, and we brought you here after. Most interesting… But I can assure you that you can trust us."

The boy shakily nodded. "Narukami Yu."

"Hm… I see." Igor nodded slightly. "Now, let's take a look into your future, shall we?" A stack of nine cards appeared in the middle of a table on the other end of the limo. "Do you believe in fortune telling?" He waved his hand over the cards and they spread out into a perfect square formation. "Each reading is done with the same cards, yet the results are always different." He chuckled "Life itself follows the same principles, doesn't it?" Igor made a flipping motion with his hand and the card closest to Yu on the right flipped over. "Hmm? That's odd…"

"What is?" Yu tried to leave his seat, but found that he couldn't move.

Margaret looked at the card as well. "It is strange… The master drew a blank card."

"Most interesting… It appears that I cannot foresee what is to come. That card represents your immediate future. I have no explanation for this. No matter. The card indicating the future beyond that is…" Igor made the flipping motion again.

"Blank again." Elizabeth got up and stared at the cards. "Well, as we cannot foresee his future, may we take a look into his past?"

Margaret looked at Yu.

"Oh… yes. Go right ahead." Yu nodded.

Elizabeth smiled and sat back down.

"Well, we usually do not do this type of reading, but, as you have given us permission, I will take a look into your past." The cards reshuffled and the one in the exact center was flipped. "The Hermit, in the Reversed position. Any card in this placement represents your personality. The card in this position itself… It can mean either stubbornness, suspicion, or loneliness. Now, would you mind if we asked you to elaborate?"

Yu shook his head. "I do mind, but I think that suspicion and loneliness is what it means for me."

Margaret's eyes seemed to soften for a fraction of a second.

Igor nodded and waited for Yu's approval to flip another card. Which he got. The card that was flipped was the one closest to Yu on the right side. "The Devil, in the Reverse position. As you know, this placement for reading your future was the immediate future, and this, is the immediate past. The Devil card in itself has a negative meaning, however, it was drawn in reverse. This means that you have broken free of something quite recently, and are free to choose your own future." The cards faded. "It seems that you are lonely, but at the same time, suspicious of everything. This was caused by whatever you have just broken free of." Igor paused for some reason. "In the coming days, you will enter a contract of some sort, after which, you will return here. The coming year is a turning point in your destiny. I cannot tell you what you must do however, but…"

"If you fail to complete whatever task it is that brought you to us, your future will be forever lost." Margaret looked Yu straight in the eyes. "Our duty is to provide assistance to our guests to ensure that does not happen."

Igor looked over at her and nodded. "We shall attend to the details another time. Until then, farewell…"

Yu's vision faded…

* * *

Yu woke up on a bench at Port Island Station. ' _Oh. That's right. I'm leaving today.'_ Yu stood up and walked over to the platform and his luck decided not to bite him in the ass for once, seeing as the train just showed up. The train ride to the Okina station was longer than he thought it would be.

"We are now approaching the Yasogami terminal. All passengers who are leaving please move to the other side of the platform"

Yu stood up, grabbed his bag, and left his seat to stand. Apparently his luck was holding out because as soon as the previous train left, the next train showed up. ' _Well, there goes my luck for the year.'_ Yu boarded the train with only a few people, which was good. He didn't like large crowds much. Halfway through the ride, Yu closed his eyes to see a static-y scene of a woman being attacked, like he was seeing it on TV. He then saw Margaret, Elizabeth and Igor, they looked like they were… thinking. Yu's eyes shot open, and he realized that he had fallen asleep. He looked out the window and saw that the train was nearing the station. He grabbed his bag… again, and waited for the train to stop. As soon as is stopped, Yu wasted no time in stepping out of the train and quickly exiting the station. As soon as he left the building, he thought he saw something out of the corner of his eye. He looked to the left and saw something take a sharp right behind the building.

"Hey! Over here!"

Yu looked over to his right to see a middle aged man calling to him with a little girl hiding behind him. He walked over to the two, with a shockingly blank face.

"Welcome to Inaba. I'm Ryotaro Dojima. I'll be looking after you." Dojima rubbed the back of his neck slightly. "Let's see… I'm your mother's younger brother… and that about sums it up."

Yu vaguely remembered his uncle. He was always nice. "It's been a long time."

Dojima chuckled slightly with a small smile. "I'll say. You've really grown. I still remember when you were in diapers…" Dojima looked back at the girl. "This here's my daughter." Dojima had a rueful expression on his face, even if it was for a split second. "Come on, Nanako, introduce yourself to your cousin."

Nanako looked down nervously as she stepped forward. "... 'lo." She quickly retreated and hid behind Dojima.

Dojima chuckled. "What're you so shy for?"

Nanako suddenly had an angry/pouty face and hit Dojima for… whatever reason.

"Ow." Dojima laughed it off. It looked like it hurt him much more emotionally than physically.

"..."

Dojima sighed. "Well then, let's get going. My car's over there." Dojima walked to his car with Nanako following close behind. Yu turned to follow as an Unfriendly looking girl walked by. Unknown to Yu, a slip of paper fell out of his pocket.

"... Hey." Yu turned around to see the girl picking up the slip of paper. "You dropped this."

"Huh? Oh! Thank you." Yu walked up to the girl and took the slip of paper.

The girl scoffed. "Whatever. All I did was pick it up."

Yu looked down and saw that it was the note he made that had Dojima's address on it. "Still, thank you."

"... Hey….H-Have we….met before?" The girl held her head, seemingly in pain.

Yu stepped forward in concern but was waved off.

"I-I'm fine. I just thought that you looked familiar." The girl shook her head and walked off.

"What's wrong?" Dojima called from the car.

Yu shook his head and walked over to the car. ' _Who was that girl?'_

* * *

Yu opened his eyes and saw that they were pulling into a gas station called Moel. An attendant immediately ran out and greeted them. "Hi! Welcome to Moel!"

Dojima looked over at Nanako. "Can you go to the bathroom by yourself?"

"Uh-huh." Nanako nodded and then the two stepped out of the car. Nanako asked the attendant where the bathroom is.

"It's in the back, to your left. You know which way's left? The side you don't hold your chopsticks in."  
Nanako had a wry face. "I know… Geez…" She then ran off to the back of the gas station.

Yu stepped out of the car to take a quick look around. The gas station attendant looked over Dojima's shoulder slightly. "Are you taking a trip?"

Dojima looked back at Yu with a sigh. "No, we just went to pick him up. He just moved here from the big city."

The attendant donned a thoughtful look. "The city huh…?"

Dojima looked into the car to see that the gas tank was almost empty. "Fill up my car while you're at it. Regular's fine."

"Right away, Sir!"

Dojima dug into his pocket for something. "Good a time as any for a smoke…" Dojima walked to the sidewalk and pulled a box of cigarettes.

The attendant walked up to Yu. "Are you in high school?"

Yu was slightly confused and his face showed it.

"Does it surprise a city boy to see how little there is out here? There's so little to do, I'm sure you'll get bored fast. You'll either be hanging out with your friends or doing part-time jobs." The attendant's eyes seemed to glint slightly. "Speaking of which, we're actually looking for part-time help right now." The attendant walked up to Yu. "Give it some thought, why don't you? We don't mind if you're a student." The attendant held out their hand.

Yu smiled slightly and shook the attendant's hand without a second thought. "I'll give it some thought." The two made small talk for a few seconds before Nanako came back from inside of the gas station.

"Oh. I should get back to work." The attendant walked off as Nanako peeked over the hood of the car.

Yu suddenly felt a sharp pain appear. ' _What the… this wasn't here a minute ago…'_

Nanako walked up to Yu with a concerned look on her face. "...Are you okay? Did you get carsick? You don't look too good…"

Yu shook his head. He suddenly felt exhausted for some reason. Maybe it was the long trip finally taking its toll? Yu stumbled a tiny bit, suddenly getting a dizzy spell. Just as he straightened up, Dojima walked back over to the car.

"What's wrong? You okay?"

Yu nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine. Just felt a little lightheaded."

Dojima nodded with a thoughtful look on his face. "That's understandable. It must have been a long trip for you." He thought for a second before looking back up. "Why not take a little walk, get some fresh air?"

Yu nodded. "Sounds good."

"Okay. Just let me know when you're ready to go."

Yu nodded and walked away from the gas station.

"Oh, one more thing."

Yu turned around with a questioning look on his face.

"The shopping district is near the house, so you should know where all the stores are. Okay. Go get some air."

Yu nodded again and walked away from the gas station.

 **Now Loading…**

' _Huh? What's this?'_ A blue window popped up in front of Yu's face, which looked oddly like a loading screen. Yu rubbed his eyes a bit and the window was still there. "I must be seeing things."

 **Load Complete. Now Installing… 1% … 2% …**

 **(You can run this in the background. Would you like to do so?)**

 **[** _ **Yes**_ **/No]**

"Umm….. **Yes**?"

The screen disappeared and was replaced with another blue screen.

 **Installation is now running in the background. Thank you for installing 'Fate Changer' software. Assets will be implemented during your next reset.**

 **[Note: Reset is when you sleep.]**

' _Okay… Don't freak out, you're going crazy, but you can deal with this later when you aren't surrounded by people and WHY WON'T THIS GO AWAY?!'_

Seemingly at Yu's thought, the screen blinked out of existence.

"...Huh. Well, that helps… I think…" Yu looked around and saw that girl from the station. He walked up to her and noticed that she was looking down, seemingly in thought. "Hey. It's you."

The girl looked up. "Hm…? Have we met before?"

' _Does she really not remember?'_ "Yeah. We have. What were you doing at the station?"

"The… station…? Oh. That one time." The girl looked away. "...Nothing. I just went… I… don't have anywhere to go." The girl looked down again and fell silent.

' _She's homeless?'_ Yu tried to think of something to say, but he was drawing a blank, so he just decided to leave the girl be. He stepped away from the girl and then looked down the street. There is an old lady standing outside of what seemed to be a weapons shop, two high-school students bickering about… something, and a man with a grey shirt staring into a general store. Nothing really of note. Yu nodded slightly and walked back to Dojima.

"How're you feeling? Ready to get back in the car?"

Yu nodded. "I'm ready."

Dojima also nodded. It seems like a thing with guys… "Alright, let's hit the road then."

* * *

As the car pulled up to the house, Yu was still tending to his headache and didn't notice that they had arrived until Dojima looked back at him. "Alright. We're here."

" …Huh? Oh. Right… thank you." Yu grabbed his bag and stepped out of the car with Dojima and Nanako. As they walked into the house, Yu paused to take a look at the outside of it. It's a smaller, two floored house, but it seems a little big for just Nanako and Dojima. There is a concrete wall surrounding the house save for the front entrance, which has a sliding door, unlike the doors that were in that were in the big city. ' _This will be my home for the next year…'_ Yu slightly nodded to himself and walked inside, setting his bag down at the entrance. He decided to look around the house for a bit, just so that he could remember where everything was. He took his shoes off at the entrance before stepping onto tiled(?) carpeting. Immediately to his right was a small kitchen, that was seemingly kept separate from the rest of the house just by a table. Directly in front of him was a living room with a couch up against the wall, another table, and an average sized tv. To the right were what Yu assumed to be the bedrooms. He looked at the living room again to see Dojima and Nanako sitting down at the small table. It seems that they eat on that table instead of the other one, which, after actually looking at it, is cluttered with newspapers and paperwork. ' _I wonder what that's about…oh well…not my place to ask…'_ Yu walked into the living room and for some reason, he blacked out.

* * *

Yu groaned as he woke up...somewhere. This wasn't his uncle's house...or the….what was it? The Velvet Room? Anyways, it didn't look like that at all. He slowly stood up and as he looked around, it seemed like he was on a road….but it was hard to tell, considering the immense amount of fog that was blinding him.

 **Install complete!**

 **Welcome to your new life! Free from the shackles of Fate!**

"Ugh…..w-what is this..?" Yu tried to will away the window, but it refused to leave.

 **You have been transported to a secure realm of the mind so that you cannot be harmed. You are currently asleep in the real world Player. Now then….Insert your name now.**

Another window appeared with a transparent keyboard attached to it. On the window, it was the standard Character selection but the stats were all set at 5. Only the name was blank. Yu hesitated for a moment before typing in his name. As soon as he hit enter, the keyboard disappeared another screen popped up in front of the first one.

 **Registering…...Registration complete! Welcome to your new life Yu-kun**

 **Would you like to activate the tutorial now?**

 **[** _ **Yes**_ **/No]**

Yu tilted his head slightly in confusion. "...Well….if it has answers to what this is….then….why not? **Yes.** "

 **Initiating tutorial.**

 **Welcome Player, to your new reality, free from the limits of humanity! This gift has been granted to you specifically by % & $(ERROR!)#&$^ * simply by chance. Lucky you! Afraid that you'll completely change because of this? Well too bad! You just happen to be one of the pitiful suckers put in the drawing, and happened to luck out! Anyways, this guide will be showing you the basics of this skill, the rest...well...figure that out on your own!**

"...I can already tell that this thing is going to piss me off…"

 _ **PING!**_

 _ **! QUEST ALERT !**_

 **Gaming for Dummies!**

 **Main Quest: Learn how to use your Gaming ability**

 **Hidden Quest**

 **Main Quest rewards: + 1 Level**

 **Hidden Quest rewards: ?**

 **Failure: There is no chance but in case you do...You lose your ability and are stuck in this realm for eternity…..**

 **Quest is mandatory**

 **What you have just received is a 'Quest'. These are tasks appointed to you by the game. Upon completion, they give you rewards according to the difficulty and situation you are in when a Quest is given to you. Some quests have optional sub-quests in them that if achieved, will give you greater rewards. These 'Side Quests' are completely optional and have no penalty if they are not completed. Sometimes you will get a Quest with a hidden objective in it. Like side-Quests, they are entirely optional, however, because you don't know what the objective is, there is more guessing around, so the reward is greater than normal side-Quests. You just acquired a Hidden Quest. Good luck~**

 **Now then, back to the main topic, as this guide progresses you may see a slight shift in your way of thinking, instead of having an outburst, you're thinking this through, making sure that this isn't your eyes playing tricks on you or something. That's because of your Status as The Gamer. Now, what I want you to do is open your Character screen. To open it, just say 'Status' all major commands are vocally activated, but if you happen to say the word in normal conversation, it won't appear. You have to have the intent to open the window for it to work!**

Yu stared blankly at the screen. He considered himself to be a smart person, maybe smarter than others his age, but he didn't really do much. Wasn't allowed to. One of the two solaces he had in life were video games. He played them in secret, because he couldn't exactly buy them, so the ones that he played most often were MMORPGs just because most of them are free. "So if this is how I think it is...then I should also have an **Inventory** as we-"

 **You rebel! Just now you have completed the Hidden Quest, but we'll view it later. For now, open your Status window.**

"Heh...okay..that was kinda funny. Even though I didn't mean for it to happen. **Status.** " A window overlapped the first one and it showed the standard RPG layout for a Character screen.

 **Name: Yu Narukami / Shoji Seta**

 **Job: The Gamer**

 **Title: None**

 **Arcana: Fool/?**

 **Level: 1 Next Level: 0.00%**

 **HP: 125/125**

 **SP: 125/125**

 **STR: 5**

 **VIT: 5**

 **DEX: 5**

 **INT: 5**

 **WIS: 5**

 **LUK: 15**

 **Stat Points: 0**

 **Perks** **:**

 **The Fool: +10 to LUK, allows usage of multiple ? and their ?**

 **?: Not Unlocked**

'Why is THAT name there?!'

 **This is your status screen. As you can see, you have two names. You thought that you could fool us with a fake name. Nice try, but if you like you can hide that bit later, if you get a quest for it~**

"Hell no! You're going to tell me how to get rid of that on my screen RIGHT NOW OR EL-" 'What…is this…?'

 **You are now experiencing the effects of 'Gamer's Mind'. And geez. We didn't know that you'd get so worked up about it…It's called a joke. Learn to live a little. But if you really want us to get rid of it… Done. We don't want our Player to not like the Game over a Status screen "error". While we're on the topic, enter your Skills window.**

"...Fine. **Skills**. And that is my real name now." The Status window disappeared and was replaced with a screen with a single grid on it. On that grid were two images that were placed right next to each other.

 **Lighten up~!This is your skill list! The overall layout is not able to be changed, however, you can create new tabs and move your skills in between each tab. The last player complained about not being able to automatically sort the skills so we added that in as well. Currently your skills are sorted by experience. You should probably change that~**

Yu nodded and looked around the grid and saw a 'Sort' button. He pushed the button and it showed a list of things that would waste too much time as he's only going to change it from time to time. "Let's go with… A-Z" He tapped that setting and the two skills he has switched places. "This could be handy… later."

 **That's pretty much it for the menu for now. Well, there's an options menu, but that doesn't really work. W-... It's being worked on. Right now, you can access it and the few options you can get are either music, and...that's pretty much it.**

Yu looked at the screen in confusion. "If this is what I think it is...then shouldn't there be a party system in this thing?" Yu checked out the settings and saw that every setting in there was locked except for the music setting. He turned that on and he heard the music that he was hearing from the Velvet Room. He shook his head and turned it off. As much as he liked music, he didn't think that he wanted to hear it 24/7.

 **Well~ The previous Gamer decided to try and somehow hack into this and he pretty much mucked up the entire thing, so we're still working on it. Had to take out the Pause feature though. So….you won't be able to take breaks in battle to think…**

"Wait. Battle? Why would I be fighting anything at all?"

 **I mean, you don't have too, but eventually your skills will simply stop growing as they are, so eventually, you WILL have to fight to get stronger. Oh, and if you work out, don't worry. You can focus on a single arm and your whole body will gain the effects of the training as you gain a stat point.**

"Okay. That clears that up. So...if I train my DEX stat my flipping around say….a pencil, then my reflexes and overall speed will be enhanced as well?"

 **Yep! And because you figured that out, have a point in WIS!**

Yu lowered his head in thought. "So I get WIS points by making wise actions….so strategy games would work with that. I should be able to get INT by reading, VIT by...pushing myself far beyond my limits, and Luck…I guess by getting lucky…? So flipping a coin… or winning at betting games…"

 **YES! You got it! Have another point in WIS AND a INT point for figuring this out!**

Yu just stared at the screen and chuckled. "Well, you seem to be awfully generous with these points. Not that I'm complaining, but isn't this supposed to be challenging?"

 **Well, that's the thing. Your stats are really low. They're average for normal people, but trust me, it'll get harder as you progress them. Most people cap at 7, but they don't have your ability. But you should probably wake up now. We can go over the specifics later. Bye!**

Yu quickly faded from the foggy realm, without a word in edgewise.

A silhouette slowly formed in the mist. " **...He's going to be eaten alive without our help."**

" _Shut it. You aren't the one who has to deal with the recovery of the data."_

* * *

Yu opened his eyes to see that he was still in mid step going into the living room. A window appeared right in front of him as he finished his step.

 _ **! QUEST COMPLETE !**_

 **Gaming for Dummies**

 **Main Quest: Learn how to use your Gamer ability:** _ **COMPLETE!**_

 **Hidden Quest: Defy the Game! Pave your own path:** _ **COMPLETE!**_

 **Total Rewards: +1 level, +1 point to all stats**

 _ **CONGRATULATIONS! YOU'VE GAINED YOUR FIRST LEVEL!**_

 **You have gained +5 stat points**

 **(This Alert will not be so...annoyingly large in the future.)**

Yu stumbled in place as he felt his body and mind...change. He felt stronger...faster...healthier even. Even if it was a very small change, it still messed with his equilibrium. As for his mind, well, at first, it felt sharper, then it felt clearer, like some fog had thinned out.

" _I… art I."_

A light ringing ran through Yu's head, and he was barely able to hear three words through it. ' _What was that? It wasn't the...whatever this whole thing is.'_ Yu shook away the ringing sound and walked through the rest of the house. It wasn't as large as his one back in the city, but it felt more like a home then just a _-prison-_ house. He brought his bag up to the spare room, where his belongings, which...weren't much, were up there, neatly packed in boxes. He had just begun to unpack, when Dojima called him down for dinner. ' _...This is going to be a long year…'_

* * *

Igor sat in the Velvet Room, contemplating his new guest. He was not able to read his future, which had never happened before. At first, he thought that it was going to be exciting, but not 10 seconds after his new guest had left, he felt the seeds of worry begin to grow in his soul. If he could not foresee this young man's future, then how would he be able to guide him properly?

"Worry not Igor."

Igor slowly opened his eyes to see a man with dark brown hair tied in a high ponytail sitting where his guests would usually be. Though, the hair wasn't the part that caught the master of Persona's eye. It was the mask that the man was wearing. It was purely white except for the left edge of the mask, which morphed into a golden butterflies wing. "Master Philemon, you have returned. What brings you here, to my room?"

Philemon chuckled. "I believe that you know, old friend. It's about your new guest. As you know, Nyarlathotep and I had a...bet of sorts years ago, which was to see if humans were able to reach enlightenment. I had you grant the power of Persona to that young group of people who played the game I created. In return, they created the forms of shadows that we see now. And as you also know, I won, and they were sealed away. But, I forgot to take one thing into account. It's that Nyarlathotep is a sore loser. So, even when he was sealed away, he still influenced the shadows to take the forms of people's suffering and hidden thoughts.

And, as such, I was forced to create a separate dimension as a place to contain the mass of Shadows. The Dark Hour, as some called it. I figured out his plan quite early on and knew that it had to be stopped, so I had Ryoji awaken the Wild Card of that fiasco. It was almost a mistake on my part, but I had no idea that the boy would bond with a facet of Death so easily. Which brings us to our new guest." Philemon sighed. "The Elder God of 1000 forms wanted to steal him away, and they personally had a hand in his suffering. They broke the rules of the cosmos, so...I broke them as well, and freed the boy of said torment myself. That little balancing act tore him completely from the tapestry of fate and, in doing so, unleashed a dormant power that alters reality as it progresses.

I can count the people who have had this power on one hand, and they have all done great things with it. And, they are all of the same reincarnation cycle. His soul is so similar to those two, that it gave him the same ability. There is no telling how far he will go with his ability, as there's no limit to it until he dies. Until then, do not worry friend, and simply do what you wish of this new guest. I can already tell that he's going to be a very interesting Wild Card." Philemon started to laugh lightly as he faded into a swarm of golden butterflies.

Igor stared at the dissipating swarm of butterflies and then laughed, wearing a real smile instead of his unnerving grin. "Yes...he most certainly will be an interesting guest."

* * *

Aigis slowly reactivated on a bed, which she was still not used to, and quickly went through her daily routine. It was, activate, perform a system diagnostic, then report in for her next assignment. It was monotonous, but it gave her a distraction from the person she missed the most. ' _No. I cannot allow myself to think of him like that. He would not wish for me to simply waste away in sorrow.'_ "...System diagnostic complete….error...emotional subroutines malfunctioning...ocular cameras leaking fluids.." ' _Minato…'_

The headpiece on a desk next to the bed crackled. "Aigis. It's me, Mitsuru. This is your mission. Take the next week to work all of your emotions out. It isn't healthy for you to bottle it up like you're doing right now."

Aigis put the earpiece on. "Understood Kirijo-san….Thank you."

* * *

Tohru Adachi was having a shitty day, as usual. Since his partner Ryotaro Dojima decided to take the goddamn day off, he was assigned on guard detail for this bitchy, self-entitled announcer Mayumi Yamano. Sure, she had her looks going for her, but she had such a stick so far up her ass it should've been coming out of her mouth! Keyword, **HAD!** "Hahaha..! Wow! So people really can go all the way inside! That's...Heh…" Adachi stared at his hands with a sick, sadistic grin on his face. "With this power….I could have so much fun with this thing!" He looked at his reflection in the TV screen, and saw glowing yellow eyes rapidly fading. " _ **I am thou, and thou art I! Ye be the one who seeks pleasure and chaos in life, I bestow upon you the power of Magatsu Izanagi!"**_

* * *

A blast of fire came from the right as long, red headed woman launched it an a man enshrouded in a brown robe. It knocked the man away violently, burning his cloak to cinders. The man tumbled on the ground and then used a staff that was hidden in the cloak to pivot himself on the ground and flip into a crouching position. He pointed the staff at the woman. "Vocat te! Clavum aqua!" A large spike of water formed at the end of the staff and shot towards the woman, who jumped over it and rushed towards the man with a trail of flames following her path. Fire quickly engulfed her form as she ran faster at the man. The man kept firing the same spell over and over again, like a one trick pony, and the woman just kept dodging out of the way. She quickly closed the distance and right when she was about to finish the man off, he smirked. "Vocat te! Aqua carcerem!" A large sphere of water surrounded the woman and rose into the air. The man slowly stood up with a groan. "You bitch...You burned my favorite cloak. Well, have fun drowning." The water mage laughed as he limped away.

The woman thrashed around for a few seconds, then just floated there with her eyes closed. ' _I won't die here...Flames! Come forth!'_ The sphere began to steam, then slowly boil. The woman opened her eyes as she felt invisible flames explode from her, completely shattering the prison. White flames flowed freely from her arms as she fell. She had fire shoot from her feet in short bursts, propelling her towards the cocky water mage. The woman dropped to the ground and dashed towards the man. She threw her arms out to the side and two whips made of white fire formed. She lashed out with one, making it extend far enough to wrap around the man's neck.

The woman pulled on the extended whip and lept forward, flipping over the mage as one the free whip morphed into a blade. As soon as she landed, she swung back with the blade and cut the man in half. Yet he was still alive, as his wounds were cauterized very painfully by the heat of the flames. The woman turned around and stared the man in the eyes as she cracked the whip,snapping his neck and turning his body into two weapons flickered away and she sighed. She looked around and appeared to be in a small town. "...Okay….WHERE THE HELL AM I?!"

* * *

Yu fell backwards onto his futon with a sigh. Dojima was called to work during dinner, so he passed the time with Nanako, getting to know her more. It was nice, and he found out that she really likes the store called Junes. They...don't really have much for entertainment around here, so he guessed that Junes was where Nanako went to have fun when she was alone. He checked his phone, no new messages from anyone, so...at least there was that. He looked around for...no reason but to steel his nerves and he opened his **Inventory** with a thought. He picked up his bag and his eyes widened with shock when he saw it disappear and be replaced with a single box in his inventory. He nervously reached towards the floating box and saw his hand reach into it.

He gasped, then frowned when he couldn't find his bag. As soon as he thought about the bag though, he was holding it in his hand. He pulled it out and he saw that there really wasn't any change. Though when he unzipped the bag, the clothes that he had just thrown in there were neatly folded up. He tossed the bag back onto the ground and stared at the ceiling. "... **Status** " Yu's status window opened with a soft pinging noise.

 **Name: Yu Narukami**

 **Job: The Gamer**

 **Title: None**

 **Arcana: Fool/?**

 **Level: 2 Next Level: 0.00%**

 **HP: 125/125**

 **SP: 150/150**

 **STR: 6**

 **VIT: 6**

 **DEX: 6**

 **INT: 7**

 **WIS: 8**

 **LUK: 16**

 **Stat Points: 5**

 **Perks** **:**

 **The Fool: +10 to LUK, allows usage of multiple ? and their ?**

 **?: Not Unlocked**

He closed it after a few seconds of looking it over. "...Okay...If this is real, then...I'm really weak. Weaker than the average NPC. I'm going to need some way to train."

 _ **! QUEST ALERT !**_

 **Become competent!**

 **Main Quest 1: Discover a way to train without breaking the area around you!**

 **Main Quest 2: Train All stats to at least 10.**

 **Side Quest: Train at least 1 stat to 20**

 **Reward: 50 EXP, Title: Dungeon Crafter**

 **Do you accept this quest?**

 **[YES/NO]**

Yu tensed when he saw the window pop up, then groaned. "This is going to be a regular thing now...isn't it..?" He tapped 'YES' and the window faded. He then closed his eyes and drifted off into sleep.

* * *

Yu slowly stood up on a path of red blocks that had black outlines. He went to hold his head, but then found that he was holding a Katana of some kind. A yellow screen then appeared in front of his face.

 **You have entered the Sub-Dungeon: ?**

 **Dungeon affect: Sense of Dread [Negated by Gamer's Mind]**

Yu took a step forward and the block under him shimmered blue, before becoming red once more. He looked down in confusion before taking the katana in both hands, as it was heavy, and ran forward. After only a few more steps, a voice rang out.

"Do you seek the truth…?"

Yu shook away the ringing and ran forwards again holding his katana tighter. Another few steps, and the voice called out again.

"If it's truth you desire, come and find me…"

He just kept running forward, ignoring the ringing. Soon, a door made of red and black material came into his field of vision. Yu went to open it, but felt...something, behind the door. A blue screen appeared in the corner of his eye.

 **You have learned the skill: [Sense Danger]**

A red screen appeared as the blue one flickered away.

 **Sense Danger (Passive): LV1 EXP: 0.00%**

 **A natural survival instinct**

 **It allows the user to sense any form of danger directed at them.**

 **The higher the level progresses, the earlier the user senses it, and can pinpoint the source of the danger more accurately.**

Yu stared at the skill and smiled. "My first skill, and it's really useful too. **Skills."** The skill window popped up and Yu tapped on **[Sense Danger]**.

 **Sense Danger** **(Passive): LV1 EXP: 0.00%:A natural survival instinct. It allows the user to sense any form of danger directed at them. The higher the level progresses, the earlier the user senses it, and can pinpoint the source of the danger more accurately.**

 **Warns the user of danger 1 second in advance.**

 **Allows to sense the form of danger from up to 15ft**

Yu then sweatdropped at the uselessness of the skill. "Well…..at least it'll get better if I get into a lot of battles…What am I talking about?! I don't want to fight anything." Yu swiped away both windows and pressed his hand to the red square in the center of the door. It opened in a spiraling motion to reveal a room just covered in fog. Yu walked into said room and saw a floating silhouette of a person in the middle of the room. He stepped into a stance that allowed him to hold the katana more easily and he felt something snap in his mind.

 **You have temporarily gained the power of ?**

 **You have temporarily gained the skills:**

 **[Zio]**

 **[Cleave]**

Yu willed away the window and stared up at the figure.

"So… you are the one pursuing me…" The figure chuckled. "Try all you like…"

Yu felt like testing his new skills, so he decided to test **[Cleave]** first. He expected his body to move, but instead, a transparent card floated down in front of him. He took it in his hand and crushed it, causing a shadowy figure to rise from his shadow. He looked up at it and saw it swing a blade of some kind. The blade hit the target dead on, but Yu felt a slight pain in his chest after it happened, only for a moment.

 **HP: 119/125**

' _So that takes health to cast huh? Guess I shouldn't abuse that then.'_ Seeing as the voice isn't going to say anything, he took the opportunity to cast **[Zio]**. The figure crackled with electricity and then launched a bolt of lightning at the figure.

 **SP: 146/150**

' _And it looks like elemental stuff takes up my SP.'_

The figure hummed. "It seems that you can see a little, despite the fog…" It cocked its head slightly to the side. "I see… Indeed, you possess an interesting quality…" The figure chuckled. "But… you will not catch me so easily…" It then crossed its arms. "If what you seek is 'truth', then your search will be even harder…" The figure became engulfed in an even thicker fog, which then spread around the battlefield.

Yu ran over to where the figure was, the shadowy thing following him and he swung the sword at where it was, not hitting anything. He swung again, and again, but the figure didn't seem to be there.

"Everyone sees what they want too…" The voice echoed from everywhere. "And the fog only deepens… Will we meet again…? At a place other than here…" The figure chuckled, it's voice lightening a bit. "I look forward to it…"

Yu stumbled in place, and began to feel lightheaded. He panted heavily as he felt like he was about to collapse, then in a split second, he felt none of that.

 **Effect [Hypnosis] blocked by [Gamer's Mind].**

"Oh…? You're much stronger then I took you for… then… perhaps a little parting gift is in order…"

A blank card floated down in front of Yu. He stared at it intensely, attempting to figure out what it was. A window then pinged in front of him.

 **A special skill has been created through a special action!**

 **Through the not at all tedious process of looking at things, the skill [Observe] has been created!**

 **Observe (Passive/Active): LV1 EXP 0.00%**

 **The ability to look past the surface of an object. This skill allows the user to see ally and enemy status pages, and quite possibly discern true intentions.**

Yu smirked. " **Observe.** "

 **Dark Arcana Card of the Underworld:**

 **The Dark Card of ?, will corrupt whomever touches it in one way or another.**

 **Status Effects: Aura of Greed: Negated by [Gamer's Mind]**

Yeah. Yu was really glad to have **[Gamer's Mind]** right now. He didn't really get the whole arcana part of it, but anything that has the word 'corrupt' on it has to be bad. "No thanks." He stepped away from the card, causing it to disappear. "I might not know who you are, but I won't let you corrupt me."

 **Wisdom begets Wisdom! For making a wise action about the entire course for your life you gain +1 WIS!**

' _And that seals it.'_ "Whatever you're up to, it won't succeed. People are going to come after you, and when they find you, they'll stop you. Hell, I might just be one of them. So, I'll see you around. Maybe when we see each other again, we can have a nice little chat." Yu closed his eyes and forced himself awake, causing him and the shadow thing to disappear.

* * *

 **Okay… I know that it isn't as long as the original ones, but I think this one flows better, even if it's just slightly. So, before I start explaining, I would really, REALLY like to thank the three people who gave me both the need to create fanfiction, and who I...kiiiinda see as the kings of the craft. And those three are Piro-san, Ryuuji, and Legend of the Kyuubi. You three are the reasons why I'm even writing this right now, so thank you, and if you're reading this...umm...hi? I really wouldn't know what to say if you three were reading this clusterfuck. So, onto the explanation on why I took….ANOTHER break. I had a severe panic attack, which quickly evolved into chronic anxiety. I couldn't leave the house, so I was forced to drop out of school, stay off of social networks, and stay inside or I would just pass out. That's one of the reasons, because I've been focusing more on recovery than anything else. That was the reason I left in the first place. The reason why I took another break is a combination of holidays, depression, and laziness. Not a really good reason to leave, I know, but I am getting better. So...to anyone out there who's reading this that has depression or anxiety, or both, just know that... you aren't alone. I know what it's like, and if anyone needs to say ANYTHING to me, if you need to get something off your chest, talk to someone about your stuff, or just plain ramble, I'm pretty much free 24/7, unless I'm dragged somewhere against my will or asleep….so...yeah! I hope that you enjoyed the chapter, and I hope to see you guys reading the next one! Until then, have a great time!**


	2. Beginning of Sorrows

**Hello everyone, and welcome to another instalment of Gamer of the World. I'm going to make this brief because you don't want to read this crap. The water spells the guy was using were in Latin, and they don't translate very well into English, so...there's that. Also, I know that at least one of you out there are curious about the Dark Arcana Cards, so let me explain. The Dark Arcana cards are going to be the calling cards of the main baddies. I've only got two cards right now though, and there are going to be more. I plan on doing this for a while, so there are going to be more than two story arcs. After each arc, I'm going to take a break to get my 'bear'ings on where to go from there. Hehe! Aaaaanyways, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"Speech"

' _Thought'_

" _Telepathy"_

" _ **Shadows"**_

 **Windows/Skills**

* * *

 **Arc 1: Jester's Folly: Chapter 2: Beginning of Sorrows**

Yu groaned as he slowly woke up. He opened his eyes to see a floating blue window right in front of his face.

 **You have slept in your own bed….er….futon..? Bed. HP and SP have been fully restored! All negative status effects have been removed.**

"So… I'm not going crazy. This is real…" Yu swiped away the screen and sat up on his futon. He shook his head lightly as he stood up. "… Then was that nightmare real too…?" There was only...Well, there were a few ways to find out, but he knew the easiest one. He brought up his skills page and saw the two new skills.

 **Sense Danger** **(Passive): LV1 EXP: 0.00%: A natural survival instinct. It allows the user to sense any form of danger directed at them. The higher the level progresses, the earlier the user senses it, and can pinpoint the source of the danger more accurately.**

 **Warns the user of danger 1 second in advance.**

 **Allows to sense the form of danger from up to 15ft**

 **Observe** **(Passive/Active): LV1 EXP: 33.33%:** **The ability to look past the surface of an object. This skill allows the user to see ally and enemy status pages, and quite possibly discern true intentions.**

 **Grants information of the target to the user.**

 **Passively allows the user to view Names, Titles, and Levels.**

He held where his heart is tightly. "If I made the wrong choice, I'd have been screwed for life." Yu then heard a light knocking at his door.

"Breakfast's ready." Nanako called gently through the door.

Yu sighed. "I'll be right down." ' _That's right. I start school today.'_ He checked his Status screen. " … Please. If there's a god out there, let my Luck stat be good enough to not get a shitty homeroom teacher…" He prayed to pretty much every god from every religion for this one blessing.

Somewhere in Minato's seal, Nyx sneezed.

Yu shook his head and scooped up his school bag and walked down the stairs. He tripped down the stairs and then realized that he was still wearing the clothes from yesterday. "Note to self, store spare clothes in your inventory." He quickly ran back upstairs and equipped his school clothes before running into the living room. He looked towards the kitchen and saw Nanako holding a plate with eggs and bacon on it. Her name was above her head.

 **The Loneliest Angel in Heaven**

 **Nanako Dojima**

 **Lv: 2**

"Good morning." Nanako greeted Yu with a small smile. "Okay. Let's eat." She sat down at the table and silently began to eat.

Yu stared at her title for a moment before sitting down as well. He noticed that Dojima wasn't around. He probably got called into work. "Do you do all the cooking?"

Nanako nodded. "I can toast bread, and cook sunny-side up eggs in the morning." She looked towards the door for a moment before looking back at Yu. "Dad can't cook, so I buy dinner." She looked down at her plate with a sad, thoughtful expression on her face. It was like she was contemplating something, or like she swallowed a lemon. " …You start school today, right…?" Before Yu could respond, Nanako looked up at him with slightly hopeful eyes. "My school's on the way, so… let's go together."

Yu looked into Nanako's eyes and then nodded with a smile.

* * *

Philemon groaned as he sat down in the Velvet Room. He grabbed one of the wine bottles and looked at the label. "Hmm. 1975 Zenato Amarone della Valpolicella Classico. Excellent choice Igor." He poured five glasses and manipulated the air around four of them to float towards the four other people in the room. One was Igor, who was sitting in his regular spot. He took it in his hands and set it gently onto the table in front of him. Another was Margret, who chuckled lecherously as she took her glass. The third was Elizabeth, who simply began to drink the wine. And the last was the girl from the station. She had no clue what to do with it. "Now then, as to why I'm here, I would like to introduce you to Marie. Which is the name I have given her. She will be working with you for the time being."

Elizabeth set down her empty glass and cleared her throat. "Master Philemon, what is this girl's role in the room?"

Philemon chuckled. "Why, it's simple. To make sure that your guest reaches the end of his journey. The specifics are up to Igor." He poured Elizabeth another glass and swirled his around a bit before taking a sip for himself. "…Speaking of your guest, I was thinking that I might pay him a visit today."

Margret sipped at her glass and then crossed her legs. "Are you sure that it is wise to visit our guest this early in his journey? He has not even entered a contract to allow him our sevices."

"While that might be true, there are still dangers in his world that may obstruct his path to the end of his chosen path. As you know, humans have discovered ways to create false dimensions for whatever they wish to do. They call them Barriers. I'm just going to give him a way to escape those Barriers." Philemon stood up as a sigil formed underneath him. "Who knows? His ability might even make it into a skill." He chuckled as the sigil glowed and he burst into blue and golden butterflies, which quickly faded.

Marie shuffled in her seat. "…So…what am I supposed to do with this red stuff?"

* * *

Nanako and Yu walked together into some form of floodplain. It had started raining once they passed the shopping district though. Luckily Nanako had watched the news earlier this morning and told them to bring umbrellas. He had a clear one, and she had a bright yellow one. She paused in her step and pointed forwards. "You keep going straight from here." Nanao then turned around and looked at Yu with a nervous smile. "My school's this way. Bye!" She ran back towards the crossroads they turned at and disappeared from sight.

Yu sighed and walked through the floodplain, now alone… again.

A echoing chuckle resonated throughout the area. "Oh Yu. You're never alone."

Yu stopped walking and quickly turned around to see a man with long, dark brown hair tied in a ponytail standing there wearing a white dress jacket with a black dress shirt and a black tie. But the most prominent feature about the man was that he was wearing a white mask that had a golden butterfly's wing on the left side. "Who are you?!"

The man chuckled again. "Worry not, Mr. Narukami. I'm only here to help you. My name is Philemon." He bowed dramatically. "And it's a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance." He stood up straight and then adjusted his mask. "Let's skip the rest of the pleasantries. I am here to teach you a skill that you'll find very useful in the near future."

Yu quickly shifted into a very unbalanced defencive stance. "I thought that you couldn't see my future."

Philemon snickered at Yu's stance, then started laughing uncontrollably. This went on for a few minutes, before he had to take off his mask to dry the inside of it. It revealed another white mask that had a blue butterfly wing painted on the right side of it. He cleared his throat and replaced his second mask. "W-Well, I can't. But knowing the world, you will have need of it soon." He snapped and all the rain disappeared, the sky turned a weird shade of orange, and the sun turned blue. "This is a dimension that I have created. I will teach you how to break out of them." Philemon flickered behind Yu and tapped him in the back of the head, causing him to be sent flying. He then appeared in Yu's path and caught him by his face. "Also, don't try to use movies to learn martial arts. They over complicate things to the point where what they do will get you killed in a simple sparring match."

 **HP: 1/150**

 **By accepting the wise words of a god-like figure, and learning a lesson in… learning, you gained +1 WIS & INT**

Yu groaned as he felt immense pain, and the irony of getting the shit kicked out of him and gaining stat points for it.

"Lucky. You're more durable than I thought. That blow should have killed you."

 **For surviving a fatal blow by pure chance, you have gained +3 LUK**

Yu mumbled into Philemon's glove. "Fuck…you…game…"

Philemon tilted his head in confusion. "Game? Oh…! You mean your ability. Did you gain something ironically, or is it just being stingy?"

Yu held up a single finger. The pain had long since faded, thanks to **Gamer's Body** , but his body refused to move.

 **HP: 4/150**

And just like that, he could feel his limbs again. He pitifully pried off Philemon's hand from his face and slowly walked backwards. "How…How did you do that…?"

"I touched you with a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of my true strength. If you had a proper defensive stance, you wouldn't have been sent flying, but it would still be a near fatal blow." He held a hand towards Yu and a soft green light surrounded his hand. "Dia." The very same light engulfed Yu and quickly maxed out his HP. "That, is still a fraction of my strength." He then pulled a pocket watch from his jacket. "But I'm afraid that we've dawdled for far too long, so I cannot teach you the skill I wanted to myself. However… if I'm right, you can use this." Blue butterflies quickly formed and fluttered around Philemon's hand. When they dispersed, he was holding a book. He tossed it over to Yu in a lazy arc. "Feel free to do what you wish with that!" As Philemon turned around, he began to disperse in a swirl of golden butterflies.

Yu caught the book, then quickly looked up at the words above Philemon's head.

 **?**

 **Philemon**

 **LV:?**

He gulped at the question marks. If a tap of Philemon's was that powerful, then if he was serious for even a second, then Yu would be dead in half that second. He then looked down at the book. It had two small windows over it.

 **You have acquired the skill book [Rengoku]** *

 **Would you like to learn this skill?**

 **[YES/NO]**

Yu's brow furrowed. He knew exactly what this was, but he also knew just how valuable it was. He was about to press **NO** , but was startled when the sky shattered and accidentally hit **YES**. The book burst into blue flames, and once it was fully engulfed, the flames froze and shattered. The shards then flowed into Yu, erasing the book entirely. He almost cursed very loudly, but instead, he just blinked at the new knowledge that filled his head.

 **You have learned the skill [Rengoku]!**

 **Rengoku** **(Active): LV1 EXP: 0.00%: A skill recently fished from the Lost River of Time, this skill was used in the unending battle between Light and Shadow, Truth and Ideals, Good and Evil. The gods themselves used this ability to engage in battles to the death to avoid the destruction of their prize, humanity.**

 **Grants the user the ability to create and destroy dimensions at will.**

 **If the dimension if created by someone other than the user, the chance of destruction is (Skill LV+((INT+WIS)÷ 100))+SP spent -(Opposing INT+WIS)= ?% chance of destruction.**

 **Current base chance of destroying opposing dimension is 1.18%**

"…Rengoku huh…?" Yu looked at the palm of his right hand for some reason. He saw blood staining his hands and the ground. The ground became bloody, and he heard faint screams of a child in the distance. Then it all disappeared.

 **Mental attack has been repelled by [Gamer's Mind]**

 **Origin: Memories, ?**

He sighed and picked up his umbrella. It was raining again, so he was pretty much drenched. He turned back towards the direction he's supposed to go and resumed his walk.

* * *

Yu looked around at people's names and saw that most were a level or two above him. It was slightly disappointing, but hey, he could improve very quickly. Besides, his stats were probably on par with them, if not better. Their titles were lackluster at best, nothing as confusing as Nanako's. He swore that he saw one that said 'Legendary Housewife' at some point. He heard the rattling of a bike chain directly behind him. So he stepped to the side.

"Whoaaaaa…!" A boy with short, slightly spiky brown hair wearing orange headphones zoomed past him and crashed into a concrete pole, violently hitting his crotch on the metal bar attached to the handles on his bike. Yu walked towards him slowly, feeling bad for him. But, there really wasn't anything that he could do right now, so he left him alone.

 **The Winds of Stagnation**

 **Yosuke Hanamura**

 **LV: 4**

"Ngh… Urrrrghhhh…"

* * *

"Finally made it." Yu stood at the gates of Yasogami High School. This is where he'll be going to school for the next year. He silently wondered how his student life would be, and prayed again for a homeroom teacher that wasn't a complete bastard.

Nyx sneezed again. "Who's talking about me?"

Yu quickly walked indoors, wanting to get out of the rain. He stored his umbrella in his Inventory when he was sure that no one was looking and pulled out another note that showed where his locker was. He quickly found it, changed into his school shoes, and checked the homeroom placements. "Okay…Class 2-2, and homeroom teacher is… Kinshiro Morooka." He stared at the name for a bit. "… I have a really bad feeling about this." He sighed and then walked up the stairs to get to his classroom. As soon as he got there, he saw his teacher walking towards the door.

 **King Moron**

 **Kinshiro Morooka**

 **LV: 8**

He sweatdropped. ' _Yep. Definitely him… And he just seems like a bastard.'_

 **[Observe] has gained a level.**

"Hey! Get yer ass over here! I don't got all day!"

Yu's eye twitched as he walked towards Morooka. ' _Yep. He's a bastard. Guess my luck's not high enough yet…'_

Morooka opened the door and walked in with Yu following close behind. Once he got to the desk, he slammed his hands down on it loudly. "Awright, shut yer traps!" The room immediately went dead quiet. "I'm Kinshiro Morooka, your homeroom teacher from today forward!" He glared at the entire class somehow. "First thing's first! Just 'cause it's spring, doesn't mean that you can swoon over each other like love-struck baboons." He crossed his arms and smirked. "Long as I'm around, you students are going to be as pure as the driven snow!"

Everyone in the classroom sweatdropped.

King Moron then scowled. "Now I hate wasting my time, but I'd better introduce this transfer student."

Yu started listening at this point.

Morooka crossed his arms again. "This sad sack's been thrown from the big city out into the middle of nowhere like yesterday's garbage."

Yu's eye twitched violently, and a tick mark formed on his forehead.

"And he's just as much as a loser here as he was there, so you girls better not get any ideas about hitting on him!"

Yu's fist's clenched and he started grinding his teeth.

 **WARNING! GAMER'S MIND HAS BEEN OVERWRITTEN!**

"Tell 'em your name, kid, and make it quick."

Yu had to take a deep breath to keep himself from breaking his oversized teeth on the desk and freeing the class from hell. Instead, he was able to reign in his white hot rage enough to only say a few words. " … You calling me a loser…?"

The entirety of the class was shocked, including Morooka, who quickly grew pissed off.

King Moron scowled heavily. "Hrnh. That's it, you're on my shit list, effective immediately." He turned towards Yu. "Now listen up! This town is miles away from your big city of perverts and assholes, in more ways than one. You better not even think about getting involved with any of the girls here, let alone abusing them!"

 **Sufficient exposure to King Moron has been achieved! Gamer's Mind has grown stronger!**

 **You have gained the Perk: Saintly Patience**

He then took on a mocking tone. "But what do I know… it's not like the old days. Even here, kids grow up so damn fast. Every time I turn my back, you're fooling around on those damn phones, checking your 'life-journals' and your 'my-places'…"

Yu sighed quietly as Morooka turned back to the class and started lecturing them about some worthless babel. He was really...REALLY glad that Gamer's Mind kicked in when it did, because he was THIS close to ending the bastard himself. He just let himself calm down for the few minutes as he waited for King Moron to shut the hell up!

A girl wearing a green track jacket with yellow stripes raised her hand. "Excuse me! Is it okay if the transfer student sits here?"

 **Icy Dominatrix, Fiery Protector**

 **Chie Satonaka**

 **LV: 7**

The bastard was snapped from his ramblings. "Huh? Yeah, sure. Ya hear that? Your seat's over there." He quickly became pissed off again. "So hurry up and siddown already!"

' _About time…'_ Yu quickly walked to the empty desk beside Chie.

Chie leaned over to whisper at Yu. "He's the worst, huh? Rotten luck for you to get stuck in this class… Well, we just have to hang in there for a year." She sat back up in her seat, looking forward.

The classroom began to murmur. Yu heard a male kid talk a bit. "Sucks to be the transfer student, ending up in King Moron's class on the first morning here." A girl then spoke up next to the male voice. "Yeah, he won't think twice about suspending you if you get on his bad side. Then again… we're all in the same boat."

"Shut yer traps! I'm taking role, and I damn well expect you to respond in an orderly manner!"

The entire class sweatdropped again.

' _So… I have to deal with him for a whole year.'_ Yu hit his head on his desk, mimicking the brown haired student behind him. "God damn it…"

* * *

"That's all for today. Normal lectures start tomorrow."

As soon as the class ended, Yu sighed. "Oh thank god that's over…" ' _Who the hell does this guy think he is?! He's such an asshole!'_

Only a few seconds after class was dismissed, the announcement bell rang and the room grew silent. "Attention all teachers. Please report immediately to the Faculty Office for a brief staff meeting. All students must return to their classrooms and are not to leave the school grounds until further notice." The bell rang again, signalling that the announcement had ended.

Morooka grunted angrily. "You heard the announcement. Don't go anywhere until you hear otherwise." He quickly walked out of the room and nearly slammed the door shut behind him.

The air in the room immediately grew three times lighter as the students began to talk amongst themselves again. One brown haired girl near Yu groaned and sounded extremely annoyed. "He's seriously getting on my nerves…" Before anyone else could say something, police sirens cried through the air. Half the students ran over to the window to look at something.

Two male students began to talk. "Did something happen? Don't those sirens sound… really close?"

The second one groaned. "I can't see a damn thing… frigging fog…"

"Yeah. It's like every time it rains lately, it gets all foggy."

A third student in the middle of the two chatting ones spoke up. "Hey, did you hear? I heard that the paparazzi is looking all over for that announcer."

Yu tried to stop listening at that point and sighed. "So… that was my first day… This place is a circus."

"Oh yeah. You mean Mayumi Yamano right?"

A slight ringing sound resonated in Yu's head, tuning out everything else in the class for some reason.

"I heard some guys spotted her at the shopping district."

"Actually, I heard that…" The third boy whispered in the second one's ear, which made the ringing go away.

"Are you serious?!" The second boy looked over at the black haired girl sitting in front of Chie. Yu looked over as well when the boy started walking over to her.

 **Caged Princess of Inaba**

 **Yukiko Amagi**

 **LV: 4**

"H-Hey, Yukiko-san… mind if I ask you something…?" The boy paused as if considering his words. "Is it true that announcer's staying at your family inn?"

Yukiko looked away with a sad, and probably annoyed sigh. "I can't discuss such things."

The student looked like he wanted to say more but he suddenly looked afraid. "Y-Yeah! I-I guess not." He ran back to his friends in a hurry.

Yu looked to his right to see Chie walking up to Yukiko. She's probably the reason why the kid ran. ' _Guess that protector part of her title is literal.'_

Chie sighed. "Speech, how much longer is this gonna take?"

Yukiko closed her eyes. "There's no telling."

"I shoulda left before the announcement came on… oh! By the way, didja try what I told you the other day?"

Yukiko looked confused.

"You know… That thing about rainy nights…?"

A look of realization flashed onto Yukiko's face. "Oh… No, not yet. Sorry…"

Chie looked slightly disappointed, but she quickly hid it with a smile. "Ahh, that's okay." She looked down in thought. "It's just, I heard a guy in the class next door yell something like, 'My soulmate is Yamano, that announcer!"

Now that someone else brought it to up, Yu heard it as well when he walked by class 2-1.

The announcement bell rang again. "Attention all students!" The voice sounded shaky. "T-There has been an incident inside the school district. Police officers have been dispatched around the School Zone." The voice cleared her throat. "P-Please stay calm and contact your parent or legal guardians as soon as possible, and quickly leave the school grounds. Do… Do not disturb the police officers. Head directly home. I repeat…"

Yu tuned out the repetition and checked his phone to see if he had Dojima's number. He did not. He sighed. "Great…"

One of the student became visibly terrified. He was even shaking a little. "'Incident?!'" The boy ran off in a hurry.

The female students right next to Yu started talking again. "Wait, something actually happened?!"

The brown haired girl on Yu's left smiled. "C'mon, let's go take a look!" She then looked at Yu and winked. "See you later Yu-kun~"

Yu watched them leave, then shuddered. He hated women like that. He stood up and stretched a bit, finally free to leave. He looked to his right and saw Chie and Yukiko walking towards him. '… _People all day today…'_

Chie smiled slightly. "Hey, are you going home by yourself?"

Yu was about to say something, but was cut off.

"Why don't you come with us?" Chie then looked slightly surprised. Maybe at herself. "Oh! I almost forgot! I'm Chie Satonaka. You know I sit next to you right?"

Yu chuckled and nodded. "Yep, and I forgot to thank you for stopping King Moron's blathering."

Chie laughed. "No problem! It's a wonder how he hasn't gotten fired yet though…" She looked at Yukiko. "This is Yukiko Amagi."

Yukiko seemed startled when Chie said her name. She was most likely zoning out. "O-Oh, nice to meet you… I-I'm sorry that this is so sudden…"

Chie adopted a worried look. "C'mon, don't apologize like that, it makes me look like I got no upbringing. I just wanted to ask some stuff, that's all."

Yu looked at the two girls before shrugging. "Ask away, but we should probably get going."

Chie smiled again and nodded. "So, where are you from?"

"Iwatodai. It's really… bright… there. Has a decent nightlife, and there's this mall that's open 24/7 with a dance club that let's minors in."

Before Chie could ask another question, Yosuke walked up to the group looking nervous, holding a thin black box. Probably a DVD case. "Uh, umm… M-Miss Satonaka… This was really awesome. Like the way they moved was just amazing to see…" He suddenly bowed and held the box out. "A-And… I'm really sorry! It was an accident! Please just have mercy until my next paycheck!" As soon as Chie grabbed it, he stood up with a nervous smile. "See ya! Thanks!" He quickly turned to run away.

Chie ran after him. "Stop right there! What did you do to my DVD!?" As soon as she caught up with him, she kicked him straight in the groin.

Yosuke yelped in pain and collapsed onto the ground.

Chie opened the case and gasped dramatically. "What the…?! I can't believe this! It's completely cracked!" She wailed in despair. "My Trial of the Dragon…!"

Yosuke groaned out his words. "I think mine's cracked too…C-Critical hit to the nads…"

The funny thing is, when Chie's kick connected, the words **CRITICAL HIT** flashed over Yosuke's head.

Yu winced as he silently used **Observe** on the poor fellow.

 **HP: 72/100**

Yukiko took a step forward, looking concerned for Yosuke. "A-Are you alright?"

Yosuke grimaced. "O-Oh… Yukiko-san… Are you worried about me…?"

Chie turned to the two bystanders She looked pissed off. "He's fine, Yukiko. Let's just ditch him and go home!"

The two girls walked out of the classroom in a hurry. Yu stared at Yosuke for a moment, then patted his back gently. "I'm sorry. You didn't deserve that… no man does." He then walked out of the room, unable to keep his shoulders from shaking in mirth.

* * *

Chie, Yukiko, and Yu walked out of the front doors of the school. Chie was busy asking her questions, and Yu was too busy answering them to see this creepy ass kid just standing there, right outside of the school gates. (Sorry to break the flow of the story, but seriously, WHO DOES THAT?!)

As soon as the group was outside of the gates, the kid walked up to Yukiko, stopping her. "Y-You're Yuki, right? Y-You want to go… hang out somewhere?"

Both Yu and Chie shuddered at the tone he used to ask.

Yukiko… was just confused. "What…? W-Who are you?"

That reminded Yu of his power.

 **Self Proclaimed Hero**

 **Mitsuo Kubo**

 **LV: 3**

Some other students began to gather around the group. "What's up with him? What school's he from?"

"Never mind that, he's going for Yukiko-san? Man, you'd think he'd at least wait until she's alone to make his move…"

"I bet you a can of TaP he gets knocked out!"

"No bet. Haven't you heard how difficult the Amagi Challenge is?"

'… _The Amagi… what?'_

Mitsuo started speaking again, which caused Yu to shiver… again. "Um… s-so… are you coming or not?"

Yukiko looked down at the ground. "I-I'm not going…"

"…Fine!" Mitsuo ran off, angry that a girl rejected him.

Yukiko looked really worried. "Wh-What did he want from me…?"

Yu sweatdropped.

Chie looked back at Yukiko. "What did he want…? Obviously, he was asking you out on a date."

The raven haired girl went from shaken up, to confused in a second. "Huh? Really?"

"You really had no clue? Sheesh…" Chie sighed. "But then again, that was WAY over the top. It was creepy how he called you Yuki all of a sudden."

Yosuke walked his bike through the gate. "Yo, Yukiko-san. Turned down another lovelorn fool, huh?" He sighed. "Man, you're cruel. You got me the same way last year."

Yukiko looked thoughtful for a moment. "I don't recall doing that."

Yosuke then smiled. "Woah, you serious? So then, you wanna hang out sometime?"

" …I'd rather not."

Yosuke looked shocked, then downtrodden. "That'll teach me to get my hopes up…" He smirked mischievously. "Anyways, you two better not pick on the transfer student too much." He quickly rode off, leaving behind a fuming Chie.

"We're just curious, is all!"

Yukiko looked at Yu. "U-Um… I'm sorry for dragging you into this."

"It's okay. Honestly, it's kinda funny."

Chie looked behind the two and saw all crowd starting to form. "C'mon, let's go. Everyone's staring." She quickly walked off, with Yukiko following close behind.

Yu looked behind him and then quickly caught up with the two girls. "So… Chie, why didn't you kick that creep in the balls?"

Chie shrugged. "He didn't really seem worth it. He was punishing himself more then I could ever dish out."

" _This is what mistakes like you deserve!"_

 _A silver haired boy cried out in agony as he was struck with an iron bar._

 **Gamer's Mind has averted the status condition: [Paralyzing Fear], and partially averted the effect of [Mental Trauma (Severe)]**

Yu took a deep breath and kept walking silently.

Yukiko looked over at Yu with a worried expression. Not a lot of people know this about her, but she's very observant, and she noticed Yu's pause in his step when Chie said 'punishing', even if it was for a second.

* * *

Aigis flipped over a shadow hologram and used Metatronius to destroy the projector. She watched as another projector came out of the wall and it flickered on to create the Avatar of Nyx. This caused the artificial human to freeze up completely. "N-No… No not again…" She began to shake in fear and anger. When she looked up at Mitsuru, who was observing, her eyes were glowing red. She didn't wait for the woman's approval as she rushed the hologram. She threw a punch through it while burning through her ammo. She screamed as she kept attacking the fake Nyx, after a few more seconds, her weapons were just making the clicking sound. She didn't seem to notice.

Mitsuru turned off the projector. "Aigis. Calm down. You're out of ammo. We'll… take that one off of the training schedule for now. Instead…" The window opened and the redhead jumped out of the spectator area welding Deux Xiphos. She landed in a crouching position and attacked Aigis at blinding speeds.

* * *

Yu just finished telling Chie the reason why he was here. Though, he might have lied a bit. A lot.

"Oh… so you came here because of your parent's' job?" Chie looked Yu in the eyes, her face showing a high amount of surprise in it.

"Yeah. They had to go over to America for a year, and they didn't want me to stay in a house alone, so, here I am."

 **A special skill has been created through a special act!**

 **Through telling someone lie, the skill [Lying] has been created.**

' _Well, isn't that great. Lying to people I barely know gave me a skill I didn't really want… Oh well… a skill is a skill.'_

Chie then breathed out a breath of relief. "Wow, I thought that it was going to be something WAY more serious." She then looked to her right and sighed. "There really is nothing here, huh? That's what makes it nice… but there isn't much we can show to people from outside the town." She thought for a second. "Though, there is something from Mt. Yasogami… I think our dyed clothes, or pottery or something is kinda famous." The then had a look of realization on her face. "Oh wait, and there's the Amagi Inn! Yukiko's family runs it. It's the pride of Inaba!"

Yukiko looked down and shuffled in place a bit. "I-It's… just an old inn."

Chie turned to Yukiko with a smile. "There's no need to be modest Yukiko! It's much more than an old inn. It's been in all sortsa magazines as a hidden treasure!" She turned back to Yu. "It's a great inn! It's been going on for generations, and Yukiko here is going to take over someday! It actually attracts a lot of visitors to Inaba. It pretty much keeps this town going."

Yukiko looked at Chie. "… I don't think that's entirely true."

Chie turned back to Yu. "So, tell me. You think Yukiko's cute, huh?"

Yu took a step back from the sudden question with a slight blush on his face. "W-Well, yes, who wouldn't… but you're also cute in a different way Chie."

 **For choosing neutrality in a lose/lose situation, you have gained +1 WIS**

"R-Really?" Chie looked away with a blush on her face. Clearly, no one has ever called her cute before.

Yukiko waved a hand in front of Chie's face. When she got no response, she looked over at Yu. "I think you broke Chie." She waved a hand in front of Chie again for a few seconds, when she finally got a response.

"H-Huh? What is it Yukiko?"

Yukiko looked at Chie, concern clear on her face. "You stopped talking so suddenly Chie. Are you okay?"

Chie took a second, then nodded, the blush on her face getting redder, almost looking like she was drunk. "S-So… what's cute about me?"

Yu thought for only a second. "Well, and don't get mad at me, but you have the cute tomboy thing going for you. You're both different enough from the rest of the… 'women' at the school that you both stand out. Yukiko is quiet, reserved, and outwardly responsible, but seems submissive, which is why all of the boys go after her, but get shot down when they find out that she's more independent then they thought. She's the 'Quiet Princess' kind of cute. You are the polar opposite of her form of cuteness. You're cute because you're easily approachable, aren't shallow enough to spend hours in front of the mirror, and you don't care about what you wear. From what you watch, I bet that you'd be running around in a yellow tracksuit with black stripes. But above all else, you're a protector. That's why it's cute. Again, not trying to be insulting, but you're tough exterior hides your soft, sensitive self. I bet that a lot of people have thought the same, but are to intimidated by you for whatever reason to tell you that."

 **You dug yourself out of a hole you didn't even know you fell into through logical analysis! +1 INT**

Chie stared at Yu, then looked away, the blush still on her face. "L-Let's just keep going, okay?"

"Was it something I said?"

Yukiko snickered softly. "W-When Chie was i-in middle school… she had t-this y-yellow tracksuit…!"

It took him a minute, but then Yu got what Yukiko was implying, and started laughing. ' _Good._ _ **[Gamer's Mind]**_ _doesn't block all emotion, just the ones that make you act impulsively. Maybe.'_

Chie hit Yu on the shoulder, obviously embarrassed. "S-Shut up!"

This just made Yu laugh even harder. "Y-You actually ran around in a Bruce Lee tracksuit?!" He quickly calmed down and cleared his throat. "How was it? I've actually wanted to start training, and I was thinking about getting one of those."

Chie looked up in though, trying to distract herself from when she wore it to school that one time. "W-Well… it was really flexible, very form fitting, and it was light, so it didn't weigh you down much. No wonder it's used for training…" She looked back down and paused in her explanation. "Hey… what's that?"

The group walked towards whatever Chie noticed and saw a few police cars and a fire engine. ' _Did something happen here…?'_

Yu looked over at the quickly forming crowd and heard two, presumably, housewives talking.

"So, that high schooler that left early, and as she came down this street…"

"Wow. Who could imagine THAT hanging from an antenna?"

"I wanted to see it too."

"Oh, you got here too late. The fire department took it down just a moment ago."

"Well, I think it's terrifying! I can't believe a dead body showed up around here…"

Yu stopped listening and paled. He then checked everything with his **[Observe]**. After a moment, he found what the women were talking about.

 **Corpse of Mayumi Yamano**

He felt like he was about to vomit, when he suddenly became a calm humanly possible. He took a deep breath and looked like he had seen worse. Which… he's seen, and felt worse than this.

 **Effect from Mental Trauma has been blocked by [Gamer's Mind]**

Chie stared at the woman. "Wait. What did she just say? A dead body?!"

Yu looked to his left and saw Dojima walking in their direction.

 **Broken Detective**

 **LV: 17**

 **Ryotaro Dojima**

Dojima looked at the growing crowd. "Jesus… this is a clusterfu-" He looked forward and saw Yu, Chie, and Yukiko. He quickly walked towards them. "Hey, what're you doing here?"

Yu looked at the girls, who still seemed too shocked to answer. "We were just coming from school, and they wanted to show me around a bit."

"… Huh. Should've figured that'd happen." Dojima sighed. "That damn principal… We told him not to let them through here."

Chie seemed to snap out of her stupor and looked at Yu. "You know this guy…?"

Yu just nodded.

Dojima scratched the back of his head. "I'm Detective Dojima, his guardian. I… well, how should I put this… I hope you get along with him." He went from nervous to professional in a heartbeat. "But you three had best stop wandering and head home.

 **QUEST ALERT!**

 **Fleeing from the Crime Scene!**

 **Your Uncle Dojima has told you to go home.**

 **Main Quest: Be at his house before he arrives from work.**

 **Side Quest: Train [Rengoku] on your way.**

 **Main Quest reward: 30 EXP, increased closeness with Dojima**

 **Side Quest reward: 10 EXP per skill level gained**

 **Do you accept this Quest?**

 **[YES/NO]**

' _Yes'_ Yu nodded. "Sure thing. Sorry for interrupting your work."

Dojima looked like he wanted to say something, but a younger cop in a suit ran by covering his mouth, his face turning green.

The younger detective vomited.

Dojima looked slightly pissed off. "Dammit Adachi! How long are you going to act like a rookie? You want to be sent back to the central office?!"

Yu looked over at Adachi.

 **?**

 **Tohru Adachi**

 **LV:?**

Yu kept up a calm demeanor, but he was actually beginning to panic.

"I-I'm sorry…" Adachi heaved again, but kept a tight hold on his stomach contents. Well, what remained of them.

Dojima sighed. "Go wash your face… We're gonna go and gather information!" Dojima walked back behind the police line, with Adachi following shortly after.

Chie looked down at the ground, slightly pale. "Was this what that announcement was about…?"

Yukiko looked down as well. "What do they mean… it was hanging from the antenna…?"

The two girls looked at each other after a moment. "Hey… Yukiko? Let's go to Junes some other time…"

Yukiko nodded. "Good idea."

Chie looked back at Yu. "Alrighty then. We're going to take off. Starting tomorrow neighbor, let's do our best!" She said that in the most confident tone possible after hearing about someone's corpse hanging from an antenna like a ragdoll. The two quickly walked off and left Yu standing there.

Yu looked at the crime scene and sighed. "Guess you can't escape the horrors of reality anywhere." He turned around and ducked behind a building. "So… let's try this. **Rengoku.** " A pulse of energy came from Yu's body as the sounds of the world disappeared, the sky turned red, and the sun a bright blue. Yu kicked up some grass and then shattered his creation. The grass was untouched. " … This gives me an idea…" He created another barrier, walked by the crime scene, and shattered it. He repeated this process only once more.

 **[Rengoku] has gained a level!**

Yu checked his current SP, then created and destroyed another barrier.

 **195/225**

 **187/225**

He started running and repeatedly used **Rengoku**. He was clearly lost, that wouldn't matter. It was a small town. He'd find Dojima's house eventually. Yu quickly grew tired however, but he also knew about his VIT stat and how it needed training. So he didn't stop moving. After a few minutes, his training began to pay off.

 **Through constant exertion of your body, you have gained +1 VIT!**

Yu pulled up his **Status** page to see what VIT did exactly.

 **Name: Yu Narukami**

 **Job: The Gamer**

 **Title: None**

 **Arcana: Fool/?**

 **Level: 2 Next Level: 0.00%**

 **HP: 175/175 (Regen 3.5 per minute)**

 **SP: 225/225 (Regen 4.5 per minute)**

 **STR: 6**

 **VIT: 7**

 **DEX: 6**

 **INT: 9**

 **WIS: 11**

 **LUK: 19**

 **Stat Points: 5**

 **Perks:**

 **The Fool: +10 to LUK, allows usage of multiple Personas and their Arcanas**

 **?: Not Unlocked**

 **Saintly Patience: Makes it near impossible to lose one's temper**

 **Status effects:**

 **Mental trauma: (High/Severe) Induces a constant state of fear and distrust, brings up horrid memories at the mention of any random word or situation. [Partially negated by Gamer's Mind]**

"So more Vitality means more HP, and in realistic terms, more stamina as well… I need to keep this up." ' _Though the Mental Trauma stat is a bit worrying…'_ He pressed on the status effect and another window popped up.

 **Mental Trauma treatments include: Time away from the cause of said trauma. Estimated recovery time: Varies**

Yu deadpanned as he dispelled the windows. "Well, that was informative… but if it's right, then I'll recover over the course of the year. I'll just have to… deal with this for now." He shrugged off the blow to his mood and kept running. As expected, it took a few hours to find the house, but on the plus side, he gained about 7 levels to **Rengoku** , and was about to hit 8, and he got one more point in VIT, and a point in DEX for running. Sure, he might have a horrible teacher, and he saw a dead body, AND he met two people who he couldn't see their levels. But, he also got a few stat points, and a way to train without breaking anything. So...his day was pretty balanced out. He didn't see Dojima's car, so that meant he had completed his quest. He walked in took off his shoes and sighed. "I'm home. Sorry I'm late, I got a little lost."

 _ **QUEST COMPLETE!  
**_ **Fleeing from the Crime Scene**

 **Your Uncle Dojima has told you to go home.**

 **Main Quest: Be at his house before he arrives from work.**

 **Side Quest: Train [Rengoku] on your way.**

 **Rewards: 100 EXP, Increased closeness to Dojima**

* * *

Yu sat down at the table in the living room, across from Nanako. Apparently, she wasn't home when he arrived, so he tried to get INT up by studying, but to no avail.

Nanako was watching this Japanese drama on TV when Yu came down. She watched it for a few more minutes, then looked down with a sigh. "…I wonder if Dad's not coming home again tonight…"

' _Again? This happens often?'_ Yu looked concerned for the little girl. "You mean that your dad usually stays out late like this?"

Nanako nodded. "But it's not his fault. His job makes him stay out later then most parents."

Yu sighed in relief. ' _Good. He's not a deadbeat asshole…Getting drunk off his ass and coming home to hit his child…'_

The show that was on was interrupted by the news. Either that, or it ended. Yu wasn't paying attention.

"… Our top story this evening concerns a bizarre case in a quiet suburb. Around noon today, a woman was found dead near the Samegawa River in Inaba."

Yu gulped slightly. He already knew what this was about.

A picture of a woman flashed onto the screen. "The deceased has been identified as Ms. Mayumi Yamano, a 27 year old announcer at a local TV station."

"So… that's what she looks like."

"What do you mean?" Nanako looked at Yu, a confused look on her face.

"Well… I was at the place where they found her, but I didn't see where she was, so I didn't know what she looked like." Yu looked back at the TV.

The picture was taken off of the green screen behind the anchorman. "The initial results of the Inaba Police Department's investigation have revealed…"

Nanako gasped. "The Inaba Police Department! Th-That's where Dad works!" She looked very downtrodden.

Yu sighed. "It'll be alright. He won't get hurt at all."

Nanako looked at Yu, then back at the TV. "… I know. That's his job, so this stuff happens." Nanako looked at Yu again. "What do your parents do?"

"Oh… well, they work in a company called the Kirijo Group. I don't know exactly what they do, since they don't like to talk about work, but it's this big company that built this place called Port Island, of the coast of Iwatodai." Yu looked at Nanako with a small smile.

"The body was found hanging from a large television antenna atop a local resident's roof. Authorities are uncertain as to why body was found in such a state. With the cause of death uncertain, police continue to investigate whether the death is an accident, or homicide. A thick fog common to the area has slowed their progress, and plans to fully canvas the area are delayed until tomorrow."

Nanako looked at her hands, which were under the table. "They found her on the roof…? That's pretty scary…"

The news went to commercial break, and a commercial for Junes came up.

Nanako looked at the TV, and a beaming smile creeped up onto her face. "Oh! It's Junes!"

"At Junes, every day is Customer Appreciation Day! Come see for yourself, and get in touch with our fantastic products!" A jingle played. "Every day's great at your Junes!"

Nanako closed her eyes and sang the Junes song. "Every day's great at your Junes!" Nanako looked at Yu with the smile still on her face.

He looked around nervously and then cleared his throat. "Every day's great at your Junes!"

 **A special skill has been created through a special act!**

 **Due to using your vocal chords to create melodies, the skill [Singing] has been created!**

Nanako gasped. "You memorized it already? I'm the best in my class!" She then began to sing the song over and over again to herself. It was like she didn't even hear the news in the first place.

After a while Nanako just started watching TV with no conversation going on, so Yu stood up and said that he was going upstairs to study. He only got a nod in response. He walked up the stairs and studied until Midnight, getting himself a point in INT in the process. He sighed as he closed the textbook and he then realized that he forgot to turn the lights on. He shrugged and moved to his futon to sleep… ' _Did… I turn on the TV?'_ He looked over at his TV, and it was on. And what was on it looked like static, but he knew that it wasn't. Static wasn't foggy.

" _I am thou… Thou art I…"_

Yu's eyes widened as he gripped his head in pain. The pain refused to fade, and it was like something was trying to break through his soul. He fell to his knees on the floor, panting heavily as the pain faded.

' _W-What the hell was that…?'_

* * *

A young girl by the name of Fuuka Yamagishi opened her eyes as her Persona faded. "Miss Kirijo. There's been an awakening."

Mitsuru walked towards Fuuka. "Where are they Yamagishi?"

"Give me a moment…" She closed her eyes again. "In a small rural town named Inaba."

"His name?"

"…"

"Yamagishi, is something wrong?"

"Not really, Miss Kirijo, but… it's like he has two names. One is Yu Narukami, which I think he goes by now…"

"And his original name?"

"It's hard to make out… but I think that it's Shoji Seta."

Mitsuru's eyes widened. "Didn't we just send his parents to America for a year?"

Fuuka nodded. "But there's a problem."

The Kirijo placed a hand on Fuuka's shoulder. "What is it Fuuka?"

The green haired girl stammered slightly. "I-It's not my place to say… Should we notify him?"

Mitsuru pulled out her phone and sent a text to Yu's phone. "Tell Akihiko not to engage. If he's as valuable as I think, then we can't lose him."

* * *

Yu fell onto his bed as his phone pinged. At first he thought that it was the game, but when no window popped up, he checked his phone. There was a text from an unknown number that said 'Greetings Seta-san'. He immediately opened it.

'Greetings Seta-san, or should I say, Narukami-san. My name is Mitsuru Kirijo, and on behalf of every member of the Kirijo Shadow team, we congratulate you on awakening your Persona. I'll be monitoring you personally, and I hope to see that you'll use your new power for good.

Regards,

Owner and CEO of the Kirijo Group, Mitsuru Kirijo.'

* * *

 **I am so sorry that it took me a month to update this… but it was just setback after setback. I actually had to retype this whole thing when my laptop died on me. I haven't really slept a lot while rewriting this chapter, so I apologize if it gets progressively worse. I really don't have much else to say, other than that I am sorry again. So, follow me if you enjoy this patchwork, and you'll get updates on whenever I post a new chapter, and leave a review if you'd like so I can see what you like, and what can be improved. I'll see you all next time!**


	3. Contract of the Soul

**Hello everyone! We've recently passed 1,000 views, well, at the time when I'm starting this, we passed 1,000, but it'll probably be slightly higher once I post this so… yeah. There's that, and the fact that Valentine's Day is coming up, so I'm excited about this thing I'm doing with my girlfriend, an-... This isn't a blog, and I know that you aren't here to hear about my personal life, so… onto the stuff you've come here for!**

* * *

"Speech"

' _Thought'_

" _Telepathy"_

" _ **Shadows"**_

 **Windows/Skills**

* * *

 **Arc 1: Jester's Folly: Chapter 3: Contract of the Soul**

Yu stared at the text for about… ten minutes? Yeah. Ten minutes, before slowly closing his phone, using **[Rengoku]** , then screaming loudly out of shock, fear, and rage. He was about to throw something out of a window, but **[Gamer's Mind]** calmed him right down. "… Why is **[Gamer's Mind]** so finicky?" He stood up quickly and began to pace around the room. "Okay. Let's think about this logically. The head of the Kirijo group somehow has the number to my phone, knows about my powers, and has proven that she knows who I am. What is the upside to this?" He paused in his step to think. "Well, if she knows about my power, then maybe she can explain what this power is. She's also a very… influential person, so if I do her favors, then maybe, just MAYBE… I can get something out of this." Yu pulled his phone out again and changed the 'Unknown Number' contact to 'Mitsuru Kirijo'. He took a deep breath to steel himself out of habit, then sent her a response that was very… direct. 'How did you get this number and how do you know about my power?' It didn't take long for him to get an answer.

'I will explain in person. It will take a few days, however.'

Yu groaned and put away his phone again. He looked around and then smiled. Well, he had the barrier open. Might as well get to work.

* * *

As the sun began to rise, Yu sighed in defeat. He had gotten his DEX up again by flipping a coin, but that's all he could get. Maybe for INT he had to read different books. And he completely forgot how to train LUK, so that was awful. He was about to set the coin down, but he paused and then stared at it. "… I can't believe I haven't tried this yet." He flipped the coin up high into the air. "Heads." He caught the coin and looked at it. It came up heads.

 **For remembering the basic principles of training on a vague stat, you have gained +1 WIS**

Yu slapped his forehead as hard as he could, suffering a single point of damage from it. "How did I forget that? And… come to think of it, what do the stats even do?" Yu pulled up his **Status** page and stared at his stats. "Strength, Vitality, and Dexterity are pretty obvious… Strength represents your physical strength, Vitality is how much HP I have and how fast I can heal, but also increases my overall stamina and helps with defense, and Dexterity is how fast I can run, and how sharp my reflexes are. The physical stats are usually the easy ones to figure out though." Yu pressed on the INT stat and another window popped up.

 **The INT stat increases your max SP by 25 and base SP regen rate by .5 each level numerically. In reality, the Intelligence stat increases your memory, sharpens your mind, and cuts through the fog of your mind.**

"That was… really straightforward. What about Wisdom?" He pushed on the WIS stat and like before, a window popped up.

 **The WIS stat increases your SP regen percentage by 1% every thirty points. SP regen is a percentage of your max SP added onto your base SP regen. Though, the fun part with Wisdom is that it enlightens your mind and soul, broadens your mind as well as clears the fog from it.**

"And that one's vague. Though SP regen seems nice… maybe I should focus on that for a bit." Yu looked at his 5 free stat points and sighed. "Might as well. I'm only level 2 anyways. They shouldn't be hard to get yet." He dumped his stat points into WIS and he immediately felt the difference, however slight it was. "I still don't know what the difference is, but I should probably get out of here. I still have to go to school." Yu smiled as he broke his barrier and equipped his school clothes again. Big plus about having the clothes as equipment, they're always clean. He walked downstairs and saw that Nanako wasn't down there. He assumed that she went to school already, so he put his shoes on and left for school.

* * *

The walk towards school was uneventful, besides Yu's **[Observe]** leveling once. The skill didn't change at all however. Maybe it changed at a farther levels? He shrugged and decided to keep scanning things. A few minutes after his skill leveled up, a student on a yellow bike came speeding by. He then crashed into the trash. Yu shook his head as he walked towards him, almost laughing as he watched the kid roll around on the ground, stuck in a trash can.

"S-Someone…" The rolling student called out, his voice slightly echoing.

Yu held the trashcan in place and helped the kid out of the rubbish. He saw that it was Yosuke, and then helped him to his feet.

Yosuke picked up his bike, then breathed out a sigh of relief. "You saved me. Thanks! Umm…" Yosuke scratched his cheek as he tried to think of Yu's name.

Yu chuckled. "I'm Yu Narukami."

"Oh yeah! You're that transfer student!" Yosuke smiled warmly. "I'm Yosuke Hanamura. Nice to meet ya."

Yu nodded and Observed Yosuke, and saw that his HP had gone down slightly. "Are you okay?"

Yosuke nodded. "Yep. Something like that can't keep me down for long." Yosuke quickly sobered up though. "Say, did you hear about the incident from yesterday? They found that announcer lady hanging from an antenna!"

Yu nodded. "I was actually at the crime scene with Chie and Yukiko and I saw her body."

Yosuke looked shocked. "Woah really? Was it all decaying and gross?"

"What? No. She just looked like she was really sick and fell asleep. With her eyes open. And hanging upside down."

Yosuke shuddered. "Do you think that it was some kind of warning? There's no way something like that could've been an accident."

Yu nodded. "You might be right… there's no way there was an accident."

Yosuke looked away. "Dangling a dead body like that… That's just messed up." He grimaced. "Then again, it's pretty messed up to kill someone in the first place…" Yosuke sighed and then looked at his watch. "Oh crap! We're late! You need a ride? It's a little squeaky, but it should be fine."

Yu sweatdropped. ' _Well, at least he's a nice guy.'_

* * *

Yu deadpanned as he listened to Morooka blather on and on about how his generation is so much better than theirs. He listened to as much of it as he could just in case he said something actually important. Once King Moron told them to pull out their textbooks, Yu just started reading through the whole thing, studying it intently as it wasn't the one he used at home, hoping to get his INT stat up after a whole day of failing. The rest of the day was uneventful, mostly just teacher introductions and basic review from first year, so nothing really important. The day just kinda flew by. Yu was packing up his stuff pretty soon after dealing with those two fake girls that tried to flaunt themselves at him again. He's just going to let it happen until they get the picture.

Yosuke stretched as he stood up. He sighed and then walked over to Yu. "So, you getting used to this place yet?"

Yu smiled. "Yeah, believe it or not."

"Wow, that was fast." Yosuke smiled as he crossed his arms.

"It's actually much nicer here than it is in the city. I never liked crowds." Yu was tempted to put his bag into his Inventory, but he had to keep his powers a secret.

"Yeah, but there isn't much to do here compared to the big city. But there is a certain… something that you can't get anywhere else."

"A sense of detachment from the world?"

Yosuke chuckled. "Well, that too, but… well, the air's clean, the food is great…" Yosuke paused. "Do you know what the local delicacy is here?"

Yu shook his head.

"It's grilled steak man! Like that's anything special, huh? But it's sure as hell better then any steak that I've ever had in the city." Yosuke sighed and if you looked closely, you could see him drooling slightly. "I know a place where you can get it cheap. Wanna come? You helped me out this morning, so it's on me."

Chie suddenly appeared at Yosuke's side. "What about me huh? No apologies?" She gritted her teeth. "My 'Trial of the Dragon'…?"

Yosuke facepalmed, then groaned. "You always come around when I'm talking about food… "

Chie looked over at Yukiko. "How 'bout it Yukiko? Don't you think that he should treat us too?"

Yosuke was shocked, and looked visibly pained for a moment as Yukiko stood up.

"I'll pass. I don't want to gain any more weight. Besides, I have to help out at the inn today anyways."

Yosuke then adopted a look of surprise. "Wow, Yukiko-san. You've already started training to take over the business?"

Yukiko looked at the ground slightly. "I-It's not like that. I just help out when it gets busy." She took a small breath before looking up again. "Well, I should be going. I don't want to keep our employees waiting." She quickly walked off and left the group of three in silence.

Chie broke said silence. "Oh well. We should get going too."

Yosuke flinched. "Do I really have to treat two people…?"

Yu chuckled nervously. "You don't really have to treat me if your wallet can't take it."

Yosuke shook his head. "No… I don't go back on my word…" He sighed. "Alright… let's go."

* * *

Yu and Chie were sitting at the outdoor food court in Junes. Chie was angry for some reason.

Yosuke walked back to their table carrying a tray of drinks.

Chie looked up at Yosuke. "THIS is the cheap place you were talking about?! They don't serve grilled steak here!"

Yosuke looked at Chie and plopped down into the seat in between Yu and Chie. "Well, once you hopped on the freeloader train, I had to change my plans."

Chie pouted slightly. "Still, that's no reason to take us to your place."

Yosuke tried to keep a neutral expression which Yu could see was failing him. "Dude, this isn't my place or anything."

Yu blinked a couple times as the two stared each other down. "Ummm… What do you mean by 'his place'?"

The two looked over at Yu at the same time. Yosuke sighed. "Right, I haven't told you yet, have I?" He cleared his throat quietly. "I moved here from another city about six months ago. This location just opened up, and my dad was assigned to manage it. So… our entire family moved out here." He reached down and grabbed his drink. He looked back at Yu with a smile. "This is to welcome you to town."

"Thank you…" Yu smiled as he reached over the table to grab his drink.

Yosuke looked at Chie. "Satonaka, yours is on me too."

Chie still had a slight frown on her face as she grabbed hers. "Yeah. I know."

The three raised their cups as cheers and Chie and Yosuke bickered quietly about random things that Yu probably had to be there for, so he just drank his drink quietly. As soon as they stopped bickering, Chie smiled. "It's only been half a year since this place opened up, but I don't think that I've been to the Shopping District much since. A lot of stores there started closing and… Oh…uhhh…"

Yosuke frowned slightly. It didn't really look good on him due to his seemingly upbeat demeanor. "You can't blame it all on Junes, can you?" He looked down and sighed.

Yu… was still left out of the loop, but he had a slight idea of what was happening. He looked to his right and he saw a girl with grey-ish hair sit down a few tables from them. She looked familiar.

 **Hardworking Martyr of the Shopping District**

 **Saki Konishi**

 **LV:5**

Yosuke looked in the same direction, the smile on his face immediately returning. "Hey, it's Saki-senpai! Sorry, be right back!" He quickly got up and walked over to her.

Yu watched as Yosuke conversed with Saki. "So, is she Yosuke's girlfriend or something?"

Chie snorted in amusement. "He wishes. That's Saki Konishi. Her family runs a liquor store in the shopping district." She tilted her head in thought. "I think that she's working here part-time though."

Yu nodded and tried to listen in on their conversation.

Yosuke walked up behind Saki. "Hey, how're you doing? You look beat."

Saki looked up at Yosuke tiredly. "Heeey…! I'm finally on break. What's up Hana-chan? Boosting the family business by bringing your friends here?"

Yu had to cover his mouth to keep himself from laughing. ' _H-Hana-chan?!'_

Yosuke clutched his heart in faux pain. "Madam, you wound me!" He sighed slightly. "Kidding aside, you look really down. Did something happen?"

Saki sighed tiredly. "It's nothing… I'm just a little tired."

Yosuke suddenly looked and probably felt concerned. "Hey… if you need to talk, I'm always willing to listen. I-"

Saki giggled quietly. "I'm okay. Thank's though." She then groaned. "Why did I leave school early yesterday…?"

' _She left school early yesterday…? Does that mean that she found Ms. Yamano's body?'_

Saki then looked over at Yu, causing him to flinch ever so slightly. "Hey, is that the kid who transferred here?"

' _God dammit… please be a normal person, please be a normal person…'_

Saki stood up and walked over to Yu with Yosuke following close behind. She introduced herself politely before engaging in conversation. "Are you the transfer student? You must've heard about me already." She chuckled to herself, then looked back at Yu. "It must be nice having someone from the big city to talk to, huh? I don't see Hana-chan hanging out with the other guys much."

Yosuke began to sweat nervously. "Er… N-Not… necessarily…."

Saki continued like she hadn't heard anything. "He doesn't have many friends, so I hope you two get along good." Her tone suddenly became playful. "He's a good guy, but he gets a little nosy sometimes. You gotta tell him right to his face if he starts to annoy you."

Yu decided not to play along, but kept the tone of the conversation up. "Nah, he's a great guy."

Saki giggled again. "I know, I was just kidding!" She sighed. "Well, my break's just about over… Back to work I go…" She hid her exhaustion with another smile. "Laters!" She quickly walked off before any questions could be asked.

"Oh! Uh, Senpai-" Yosuke laughed quietly as he sat down. "Saki-senpai says that I'm annoying, but she's even nosier than me. She has a younger brother, and she… treats me the same way."

Chie leaned towards Yosuke with a sly grin on her face. "Oh~ Don't want to be treated like a younger brother… Haha, I get it. So that's how it is…" Her posture quickly became reminiscent of someone telling a grand tale of a hero's journey. "The daughter of a family-run liquor store and the scion of the invading chain… Hoho~ The flames of forbidden love!"

Yosuke flinched violently as a small blush crept onto his face. "Wha-?! Dude! It's not like that!"

Yu leaned in with the same grin Chie had earlier. "That may be, but it looks like you'd want something like that to happen, eh _Hana-chan_? You're already blushing from the thought of it."

Chie seemed to join in. "Well… I know juuuust the thing to cure that lovesick heart of yours!" Her face suddenly grew serious. "You ever hear of the Midnight Channel? You're supposed to look at a TV that's switched off, alone, exactly at midnight on a rainy night…While you're staring at the screen, another person will appear, and they say that that person's your soulmate!"

Yosuke processed that for exactly a second. "What? For a second there, I thought that you were actually going to say something useful." He held his forehead in confusion. "How can you get excited like that over a childish urban legend?"

Chie got pissed off. "Childish huh?! You don't believe it, do you?!"

Yosuke looked back up at Chie. "Of course I don't."

Chie then smirked. "Well, it's raining tonight! Let's all try it out! Then you'll see!"

Yosuke looked down at himself, then his attention snapped up at Chie again. "Try it out… wait, you're telling us that you haven't even tried it yourself yet?!" He closed his eyes with a grimace on his face. "Wow… I'm trying to remember the last time I've heard something this stupid…" He sighed and then looked up at Yu. "All that aside, you know that 'incident' yesterday? You guys think it was murder?" His eyes then gleamed mischievously. "Ooo… what if the culprit was still lurking around here…?" He laughed creepily.

Chie grimaced this time. "Sheesh… you shouldn't joke about stuff like that… Now who's the childish one…?" She steered the topic back to the Midnight Channel. "All I'm saying is that you guys better try it tonight!"

Yu shrugged. "Why not? If it doesn't work, then I haven't really lost anything."

Yosuke sighed. "Fine… but if it doesn't work, I get to bug you about it whenever I want to."

* * *

Yu was eating dinner with Nanako alone again tonight. Dojima was out late. Again.

Nanako sighed dejectedly.

Yu looked up at Nanako. It was sad, seeing a kid like this.

" _Mommy…? Why is daddy out late all the time…?"_

" _Because he can't stand having to live with a mistake like you."_

Yu shook away his memories. "Did your dad call?"

Nanako shook her head while staring down at her food. "No… he always says he will…"

Yu looked down at his food again when he head the front door slide open.

Nanako jumped up with a huge smile. "Oh! He's home!" She ran over to Dojima, and hugged him tightly.

Dojima chuckled tiredly as he ruffled Nanako's hair. "Sorry I'm late Nanako. The Chief wanted me to stay late to look over some things."

Nanako let go and nodded. She walked back over to the and sat down in her spot.

Dojima groaned as he walked over to the futon in then living room. "What a day… did anything happen while I was out…?"

Nanako shook her head as she started filling Dojima's bowl with food.

Dojima sighed as he sat down. "Could you put on the news for me…?"

Nanako reluctantly nodded and switched the TV to the news.

"Next… more detail in the developing story on the incident in foggy Inaba." The anchor paused for a moment as he waited for something. "Announcer Mayumi Yamano's dead body was found hanging above a house in this isolated rural town. It is confirmed that Ms. Yamano had been in an affair with Taro Namatame, husband of the enka singer Misuzu Hiiragi. The police plan to investigate this relationship and question any personnel involved with them."

Yu's brows furrowed in thought. ' _Yamano had an affair with Namatame… could that singer be involved in this…?'_

"In addition, we now bring you an exclusive interview with the local student who found Ms. Yamano's body."

Dojima groaned. "An interview with a kid…?" He yawned softly as he spoke. "Where the hell did they find her…?"

Yu was broken out of his thoughts when he saw the image change to show a student with their face was blurred out. They had long, greyish hair. Yu nearly dropped his chopsticks. ' _That's Saki Konishi! So she did find the body…'_

"What went through your mind when you saw it? Could you tell she was dead? Did you see her face?" Once the reported asked his questions, he practically shoved the mic in Saki's face.

"U-Umm…" Her voice was distorted as well.

"Don't you think it's scary that someone was killed on a foggy day?"

Saki seemed to flinch in shock. "H-Huh?! She was killed…?"

"Oh… err… D-Did you see anyone suspicious around here…?" The reporter seemed to regret asking the last question.

Saki shook her head. "No… Not really."

"We heard that you found it when you left school early. Did you have some 'personal business' to take care of?"

Saki seemed confused. "Huh? That's…"

The anchor cut in when his camera was turned on again. "-a tragedy that occurred near the local shopping district. Many store owners are raising concerns about losing customers as a result."

Dojima grunted. "If they lose customers, it's because you're making such a big deal of it…"

The view switched to show another person on the camera. "It really is a bizarre case, isn't it? I mean, hanging someone upside down from an antenna. Heh. I'd have to say that it's a warning or a sign from the killer."

"Maybe, but so far, no one has come forward to take credit for the crime."

Both Yu and Dojima thought the same thing. ' _Only an idiot would take credit for this bullshit.'_

Dojima yawned again. "Loads of prank calls though…"

The commentator spoke again. So the cause of death is still unknown…? And they don't have a single suspect yet?! Taxpayers' funds are going to a police force who can't even figure out if this is an accident or a homicide?!"

A light snoring was heard coming from Dojima.

"We'll be right back after these messages." Once the news went to commercial, the Junes ad came up again.

"At Junes, every day is Customer Appreciation Day! Come see for yourself, and get in touch with our fantastic products!" The Junes song played again.

Nanako giggled and closed her eyes as she sang the song. "Every day's great at your Junes!" She looked back at Dojima. "Hey dad? Can we go to Junes together sometime?"

Dojima snored loudly, clearly asleep.

Nanako sighed and looked back down at her food. "Geez…"

* * *

Yu sat down at his desk and immediately opened his stat sheet.

 **Name: Yu Narukami**

 **Job: The Gamer**

 **Title: None**

 **Arcana: Fool/?**

 **Level: 2 Next Level: 33.33%**

 **HP: 200/200 (Regen 4 per minute)**

 **SP: 250/250 (Regen 7.5 per minute)**

 **STR: 6**

 **VIT: 8**

 **DEX: 8**

 **INT: 10**

 **WIS: 17**

 **LUK: 19**

 **Stat Points: 0**

 **Perks:**

 **The Fool: +10 to LUK, allows usage of multiple Personas and their Arcanas**

 **?: Not Unlocked**

 **Saintly Patience: Makes it near impossible to lose one's temper**

 **Status effects:**

 **Mental trauma: (High/Severe) Induces a constant state of fear and distrust, brings up horrid memories at the mention of any random word or situation. [Partially negated by Gamer's Mind]**

He sighed. "Okay… If i want to get that side objective, the easiest stat to train would be Luck… but that's probably the most difficult one to train. Maybe… I could try Shogi* to raise my Wisdom… But I don't have a computer." He groaned and held his head. "Luck it is. I could always use a little more of that… unless it just makes the results more extreme…" Yu shuddered at the thought of winning the lottery, then getting killed right after. He shook his head and pressed on his LUK stat.

 **This statistic controls how often you get critical hits, as well as increases the chances of you getting rare loot drops or monsters. Practically, Luck is a balancing act. When something good happens to you, something bad will happen and vice versa. What this stat does is lessens the repercussions of Luck balancing itself from you getting good luck.**

"So… the more Luck I have, it just means that less bad shit happens to me…?" Yu hit his head on his desk. "Then a whole lot of good stuff better be happening to me… maybe this power is a result of luck balancing itself…"

 **You have discovered the inner workings of Luck! +1 to LUK and INT**

Yu looked at the screen and smiled. "Well, at least now I can work on my physical stats." He got out of his chair and started doing pushups for his Strength. After thirty of them he gained his first stat point in that. He was beginning to get tired after that, but he refused to stop. He didn't feel his arms burning in agony anyways because of **[Gamer's Body]**. He kept going until 11 at night, before he stopped to work on his DEX, which was difficult to do in a small room, but he just flipped his pencil around for a while. By 11:50, he was able to get three points in STR total, 2 points in VIT, bringing it to ten, and 1 in DEX. He sighed and watched the TV closely as rain poured outside. He looked up at the clock and shook his head as he walked over to the TV. He stared at his reflection for three minutes before turning away. He sighed as he walked over to his futon, then paused as he saw light coming from behind him. He turned towards the TV and saw that it was in fact on. He stared at it as a picture came up and it showed a girl writhing in pain. He looked above her head and saw that there was a name.

 **Saki Konishi**

He nervously gulped and walked back to the TV, his fear all but gone in a second. He kept watching, the girl seemingly thrown around like a ragdoll. Thunder crashed behind him and Yu heard a soft ringing.

" _I am thou…"_

His eyes opened wide. As he felt another headache coming along. ' _This happened last night too…'_

" _Thou art I…"_

Yu held his head as he felt more and more pain rise from nothing.

" _Thou art the one… who opens the door…"_

Yu fell onto the ground as the pain intensified. An explosion was heard coming from outside. Once that occurred, the pain immediately stopped. He panted slightly and looked up at the TV again. The screen was black. He slowly stood up and stared at the screen. He reached towards it, and when his fingers touched the screen, white ripples came from it, like water. In fact, the screen even felt like water.

He flinched back from the sudden reaction, then, against his better judgment, he plunged his hand into the screen, feeling empty space from behind it. Suddenly something grabbed onto his wrist and tried to pull him through. He gritted his teeth as he pulled against...whatever was pulling him in. He was really thanking his STR stat now, because he was starting to pull something out that looked like a black hand latched onto his arm. The hand tensed as soon as it was being pulled out of the TV, and Yu could kinda feel something flailing on the other side. It let go of his wrist and sank back into the screen. The sudden lack of force made Yu fall backwards and he threw his arms backwards to catch himself and he grabbed onto the table, stopping his fall short of him hitting his head hard and probably waking up everyone in the house. He sighed in relief and slowly set himself down onto the ground. He closed his eyes as he used **[Rengoku]** just in case something came out of the TV.

He looked at his wrist, and saw nothing out of the ordinary, so he just stared at the screen again. "What the hell was that thing…?" He shrugged and pulled his stats up again. "Only a little longer until I complete the quest…" He rolled up his sleeves and started doing pushups again. "Might as well get to it."

* * *

 _ **! QUEST COMPLETE**_

 **Become competent!**

 **Main Quest 1: Discover a way to train without breaking the area around you!**

 **Main Quest 2: Train All stats to at least 10.**

 **Side Quest: Train at least 1 stat to 20**

 **Reward: 50 EXP, Title: Dungeon Crafter**

Yu smirked as he saw his new title. He had trained hard enough over the past few hours to get his STR up three more points, and his VIT 1 more as a result. He also did that pencil flipping thing that he thought of to get the last DEX point he needed. "Dungeon Crafter huh? I wonder what it does." Yu pressed on the word **Title** on his stat sheet and equipped **Dungeon Crafter**.

 **Dungeon Crafter allows the wearer of the title to gain x2 EXP from killing Monsters in self made dungeons.**

Yu tilted his head at that. "Self made dungeons…? Is that a skill that I can get later on? Or maybe it's something that **[Rengoku]** can do…" Yu equipped his school clothes and then looked outside. "Oh. Right. I forgot that I was inside of one of these." He broke it with a thought and walked downstairs. He could hear Dojima's snoring in the back and he sighed. Yu then wrote a note saying that he left early and entered a barrier of his, and shattered it, wanting to see if he was right. He entered another barrier and tore through the front door, because he always wanted to do something like that. He started sprinting around the town, training his skill, and his stats, because he knew that everything was important. After a while with little success, he broke his recently created barrier with a sigh. He flinched as he felt some odd presence watching him.

 **You sense a dangerous presence behind you.**

 **[Sense Danger]'s level has increased by one!**

 **[Sense Danger]'s level has increased by one!**

 **[Sense Danger]'s level has increased by one!**

 **[Sense Danger]'s level has increased by one!**

 **[Sense Danger]'s level has increased by one!**

 **[Sense Danger]'s level has increased by one!**

Yu looked at the notifications and paled. He heard a whip crack behind him and he rolled to the side, barely dodging a strike from the whip that tore the concrete. He turned around and looked at his attacker to see a redheaded woman wearing a black catsuit with a white fur coat over it with black sunglasses. He looked above her head.

 **?**

 **Mitsuru Kirijo**

 **?**

Yu's face went from horror, to anger, to just blank in a second as he dodged another lash from her whip. He dashed towards her, dodging her, most likely, slow attacks and he grabbed onto her wrist. " **[Rengoku]!** " The world shifted around them and he let go of the woman's wrist and jumped back, still dodging her attacks.

Mitsuru smirked. "Afraid to hit a woman Narukami?"

Yu flipped over another one of her lashes somehow. "Not really! I'm honestly more afraid that if I did, it wouldn't do anything!" He finally got hit with one of her lashes, and it sent him through a building.

 **HP: 27/275**

Yu groaned as he slowly stood up and walked out of the empty building.

Mitsuru blinked owlishly as she watched Yu walk out of the destroyed building like nothing happened. "Are you okay? Most people can't get up after being sent through a building."

Yu nodded. "Yep. I'm alive, so I'm fine. Probably can't take another one of those though."

Mitsuru nodded and made her whip roll up with a single flick of her wrist. "Good to know that you're not cocky. Now then, can you take us out of your barrier?"

Yu nodded and was about to break the barrier, but then stared at Mitsuru. "How do you know what this is?"

Mitsuru closed her eyes and adopted an authoritative stance. "Excellent question Narukami-san. I could ask you the same."

Yu sighed. "Fair point." He snapped for effect and the barrier shattered.

 **You sense a dangerous presence coming from your left.**

 **[Sense Danger]'s level has increased by one!**

 **[Sense Danger]'s level has increased by one!**

 **[Sense Danger]'s level has increased by one!**

Yu stepped backwards as a man wearing white hair punched the air where he was, creating a small shockwave from his punch. Yu jumped backwards away from the man and pressed into someone as he took another step back. He groaned and rolled to the side as the man threw another punch at Yu, which the figure he was behind caught like it was nothing.

"Akihiko!" Mitsuru called to the man. "That's enough! I told you not to get involved!" She quickly walked over to him, her heels clacking against the pavement.

Yu looked up at the man's name and the figure's, which he now knew was a blond girl with blue eyes.

 **?**

 **Akihiko Sanada**

 **?**

 **?**

 **Aigis**

 **?**

Akihiko looked at Mitsuru and then nodded, slowly relaxing as Aigis let go of his fist.

Aigis turned to look Yu in the eyes. "Hello there. I am the Anti Sha-… I am Aigis."

Yu relaxed as well once he saw that the man wasn't going to attack him. "My name is Yu Narukami." He held a hand out to Aigis, who smiled and shook his hand in a bone crushing grip.

 **HP: 33/275**

Yu smiled back at Aigis, ignoring the brief moment of pain. "Nice to meet you Aigis. And I'm glad that you aren't trying to kill me."

Mitsuru walked over to Yu. "We had to test your abilities. Though Akihiko might have gone a little overboard." She looked at him again with an evil glint in her eyes. "You'll be executed later."

Akihiko began to shiver in fear for some reason.

Mitsuru looked back at Yu. "I apologize for sending you through that building. I lost control of myself for a moment." She took off her sunglasses. "Regardless, it is nice to speak in person Narukami-san." She offered her hand towards Yu.

Yu tried to shake Mitsuru's hand, but couldn't move his arm as Aigis still had his hand in a death grip. "U-Umm… Aigis. You can let go now… Aigis?" He then tried to pry his hand out of Aigis's grip. "Aigis!"

* * *

The four were sitting at a table in the Junes food court. He had about 4 hours before he really had to leave for school. Yu rubbed his eyes, suddenly exhausted from the dodging and from what he had just heard. "Let me get this straight… You want me to join your Shadow Black Ops group, or whatever it is, because I have this power called Persona, and you want me to work for you once I graduate officially, and as one of your operatives in this… 'Abyss' thing because of my ability to make barriers?"

Akihiko sipped at his drink. "That's the short version of it, but yeah."

Aigis looked at Mitsuru, who nodded. The girl then placed the briefcase she was holding… somewhere… onto the table. She turned it towards Yu and opened the case, revealing a gun.

Mitsuru began to recite something with practiced ease. "This is an Evoker. While it looks like a common handheld pistol, it's true purpose is to allow us to call forth our Persona's. If you decide to take this, it's proof that you're one of us, and a promise that you will join us once you're able to."

Yu created a barrier around him and the table and slowly unbuttoned his shirt. He laughed bitterly. "Do you honestly think that I would work for you while my _parents_ work there…?"

Aigis tilted her head. "I do not understand what the problem would be with you working in the same company as your biological parents."

Yu scowled as he let his shirt and jacket fall from his upper body, revealing dozens, if not hundreds of different types of scars that his **[Gamer's Body]** didn't heal for some reason. "This is why! Why the hell would I work at the same place that allows monsters like them to work there?!" He put his shirt and jacket back on and started to walk off. "Call me again once you get rid of those pieces of shit." As he left the food court, he pulled his umbrella out of his Inventory and broke the barrier.

Mitsuru closed the case slowly, silently processing the new information.

Akihiko crushed his cup, spilling his drink everywhere. "Did you seriously let people like that stay?!"

Mitsuru held a finger up to Akihiko, telling him to wait. "… Aigis. How old were some of those scars?"

Aigis closed her eyes, calculating. "The most recent ones were created 1 week ago, while there are some that have faded that I could detect. They were approximately 15 years old, leaving 6 months as the maximum time those wounds were contracted."

"And… how old is he…?"

"16 years, 9 months, 13 days old."

"…" Mitsuru stood up stiffly. "Akihiko, Aigis, go back to the plane. I have some calls to make."

* * *

Yu sighed as he waited at the Samegawa River. He didn't really have anything else to do, so he stared at the water and thought about why he lost his head at Junes. **[Gamer's Mind]** should've stopped that, so… "Why did I let my emotions control me like that…? _How_ did I let my emotions control me like that?"

"Umm… excuse me?"

Yu looked behind him and saw a girl with long green hair that was braided in a pony tail. She was wearing all white and an odd necklace.

 **?**

 **Fuuka Yamagishi**

 **?**

Yu looked at her for a moment. '… _Why the hell not?'_ "Are… you talking to me?"

Fuuka nodded. "Are you Sho-... Sorry. Are you Yu Narukami?"

Yu nodded.

Fuuka sighed in relief. "I finally found you… I've been looking all over the place."

Yu looked back at the river. "No you haven't."

Fuuka gasped slightly and then silently sat down next to Yu. "... No. I haven't. But I was looking for you." She sighed. "Please understand why we want you to work with us… You have-"

"A rare ability that can only be achieved through special circumstances. I know. Ms. Kirijo explained it all. Except for the Abyss part. I don't know what that's about." Yu picked up a rock and tried to skip it, failing horribly. "I don't hold anything against any of you, it's just… I don't want to say that I work in the same place as child abusers."

Fuuka nodded and then skipped a rock across the river expertly. "If Mitsuru-san knew about that, then she would've fired them on the spot. They were apparently such good workers for her father that she overlooked them."

Yu nodded and tried to skip a rock again, failing again. "It's fine if she wants to keep them. I lost my cool in there… somehow… and made a stupid decision." He had this empty look in his eyes that made Fuuka giggle. "Huh? What's so funny?"

She quickly calmed down. "It's funny… because you remind me of a boy I once knew. He was just like you, acting all normal and stuff, when really he was… well, suicidal would be a polite term. The first time he picked up an Evoker, he smiled when he pulled the trigger. Or… at least that's what they tell me. I wasn't there for it."

Yu skipped another rock, finally getting some success.

 **A special skill has been created through a special act!**

 **Due to the constant practice of throwing something potentially lethal, the skill [Throwing Weapon Mastery] has been created!**

 **Throwing Weapon Mastery** **(Passive): LV:1 EXP: 0.00%: Through constant practice, you have begun to master the basics of throwing weapons.**

 **\+ 10% accuracy when using throwing weapons**

 **\+ 5% Critical Hit chance when using throwing weapons**

 **\+ 5% damage dealt when using throwing weapons**

 **EXP gained from throwing weapons is different with each throwing weapon**

' _Huh. Didn't think that I'd get that. I thought it would be something like_ _ **[Rock Skipping]**_ _or something like that.'_

 **Oh come on! We aren't THAT annoying.**

Yu sighed. "He seems like he had some great times with you all… Look, if Ms. Kirijo fires those two, then I'll consider it. I still need to weigh my options anyways."

Fukka nodded. "Of course. Take all the time that you need. And I believe that Mitsuru-san has already had your problem taken care of." She stood up bowed to Yu and walked off.

Yu watched her leave, then skipped one last rock, making it go across the river. "Huh." He stared at the ripples it left when it crossed the river. "…" He stood up silently and walked back up to the road. He saw students walking to Yasogami. ' _Jesus… was I really there for that long?'_ He shrugged and began to walk in the same direction as the others. He also saw that he was the only one with a clear umbrella.

"Perfect timing! Sorry!" Chie ran next to Yu and kinda forced herself under his umbrella.

Yu sighed with a small smile and adjusted his grip so that the umbrella covered both of them. "Sorry to ask, but don't you have your own?"

Chie laughed nervously. "I did… but then I saw this kung fu movie where they did these amazing moves with umbrellas so… yeah. I broke mine trying to copy the movie."

Yu sweatdropped. "Honestly Chie… if you learn kung fu from movies, you're going to get taken down in a spar fast."

Chie perked up. "Really?"

Yh nodded. "Yeah. in reality, you probably wouldn't be able to do half of those attacks. The use wires to keep the pressure off of the stem."

Chie nodded in thought. "That doesn't stop it from looking cool though."

Yu smiled. "No, I guess it doesn't."

After a few seconds of silence, Chie looked like she remembered something. "Oh! By the way! Did you see it?"

Yu nodded, looking serious. "I did."

"Oho~ Do tell! But… the person it showed…" Chie shook her head. "Nevermind. I'll save it for when the others are around. Come on. We're going to be late." The two started walking again. Not soon after, Chie looked away and paused in her step. "U-Umm… It's…kinda awkward to bring this up now…But we're pretty close here…" She looked up at Yu with the tiniest of blushes on her face. "I-I'm just gonna run the rest of the way! Later!" She took off running as soon as she stopped talking and left Yu alone.

"… What was so awkward about that?" Yu stared at Chie as she ran off. He then shrugged and started running as well, not wanting to be late.

* * *

Yu couldn't help but stare at what his teacher was wearing. An Egyptian headdress?! Who wears that?! She introduced herself as Kimiko Sofue, and her title was… actually kinda funny. It really fit her.

 **History Nut**

 **Kimiko Sofue**

 **LV: 9**

"Since this is the beginning of the semester, I begin with an easy question. Our transferee, Mr. Narukami, stand up please."

Yu blinked for a moment and stood up.

"The western calendar is based on Anno Domini, the traditionally believed year of Jesus Christ's birth. What is the year before 1 AD called?"

Yu smiled, very confident in his answer. History was always his best subject. "1 BC, Ms. Sofue."

The…eccentric teacher smiled. "You seem to understand this well." She then explained that there was no 0 AD as Yu sat down. The rest of the class was just reading from the textbook that Yu had already read through. He didn't mind though. It helped with his INT stat, even if he didn't get a point from it.

As Yu packed up his books again, he heard those two flirty girls that he hated gossiping.

"What's up with the body being hung upside-down like that? It's so freaky!"

"Is it supposed to be like, mimicking an execution? That's messed up…"

"My senpai said that it was a third year named Saki who found the body."

Yu then turned his head to the left when he heard footsteps coming towards him. It was Yosuke.

"Y-Yo… um…" He looked down in thought.

"What is it Yosuke?"

Yosuke looked back up at Yu. "W-Well… it's not really important… but…"

Yu smiled. "Spit it out Yosuke."

He gulped nervously, and then nodded his head. "W-Well… yesterday on TV… I…" Yosuke held his head and then groaned. "L-Look, it's not that important, I-I'll tell you later." He laughed nervously.

Chie walked up to the two. "Yosuke, did you hear the rumor? People are saying that it was Saki-senpai who found the body."

Yu shrugged. "It's actually true."

Chie looked at Yu, her eyes wide. "How do you know?!"

"The news report. Be honest, how many students here have long grey hair?"

Chie chuckled sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head. "Y-Yeah, when you look at it that way, I guess it is kinda obvious."

Yosuke let a worried expression creep onto his face. "I wonder if that's why she was so down yesterday… come to think of it, she doesn't seem to be at school today either…"

Yukiko suddenly stood up and turned to walk away.

Chie looked over at her. "Yukiko? Are you helping out at the inn today too?"

Yukiko looked back at Chie and nodded. "Things are really out of hand right now… I'm sorry."

Yu shrugged. "Good luck in there, and don't take any shit from the more drunk and perverted customers." His advice fell on deaf ears as she had already left.

Yosuke leaned closer to Chie. "Is it me or does Yukiko-san seem really stressed out today?"

Chie sighed. "I guess they're running her ragged…" She then looked like she remembered something. She seemed to forget a lot of things. A lot. "By the way, did you see… it… last night?"

Yosuke looked shocked at the sudden change in topic. "H-Huh? W-Well… what about you?"

Chie nodded. "I did! I seriously saw a girl!" She then thought about what she just said. "But does that mean my soulmate's a girl…? What's that supposed to mean?" She shook her head with a smile on her face. "I couldn't quite tell who it was, but it was definitely a girl." She closed her eyes it thought. "Her hair was grey, about shoulder length…"

Yu's eyes widened. ' _Saki! How the hell did I forget what I saw?!'_

"She was wearing our school uniform… and…"

Yosuke seemed shocked. "Hey… I think that's the same person that I saw! I couldn't make out that much detail though… The image I saw was much blurrier."

' _Okay… this soulmate shit is wrong. This is something else.'_

"Wait! You saw it too?! And we saw the same girl… does that mean we have the same soulmate?"

Yu sighed. "I doubt it."

Chie looked at Yu. "Why's that?"

"Because the grey haired girl you saw was Saki. And soulmates, in theory, don't work like that. You can't just be shown your soul mate."

Yosuke didn't hear the second part of his explanation. "My soulmate is Saki-senpai…?" He was about to jump for joy, when Yu grabbed his wrist.

"I just said that soulmates don't work like that. You have to feel it. It can't be told to you. Trust me, I thought I found mine in junior high because I was told that she was my soulmate. Nothing's going to tell you who it is. Not even a mystical tv program."

Yosuke calmed down slowly and nodded. "Hey, how'd you know it was Saki?"

"Long grey hair."

Both Yosuke and Chie facepalmed at their own stupidity.

Yu cleared his throat. "You two got a constant image, while mine cut out a lot. But it was clear as day." He decided not to tell them about the bit with the headache and the portal in the TV.

Yosuke nodded. "It sounds like we all saw Saki-senpai…"

Chie thought for a moment. "Oh! That reminds me! My family was looking to buy a bigger TV."

Yosuke deadpanned. "How did that remind you of getting a new TV…?" He shook his head. "Nevermind. But we have some pretty big TV's at Junes." He grinned. "Wanna go check them out on the way back? We're beefing up our electronics department this month."

Chie looked content for some reason. "Oh definitely! My parents know nothing about electronics, but I have got to watch my kung fu movies on the big screen!" She made the stereotypical kung fu cry and took a stance in the crane style, one of the few things that the movies got right.

' _Maybe… they have one big enough for me to fit into…'_ "Hey, can I come too? If we're going to electronics, I could look for a new laptop for me to use at home."

 **A special skill has been created through a special act!**

 **Through the telling of half truths, the skill [Bullshiting] has been created!**

 **As [Lying] and [Bullshiting] are of the same brood, the skills have been combined into one skill. [Deception] has been created!**

 **Deception** **: LV: 2: EXP: 0.00%: The art of deception is an art that, while no longer formally trained, is still something that every person knows of.**

 **Increases the chances of telling a successful lie. Lie is stronger when a truth is told on top of it. Chance of successful lies being told increases per level gained.**

 **Chances of a successful lie are dependant on how extreme the lie is.**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

 **?**

* * *

The three stood in front of the largest flat screen in the store. Yu was certain that he could fit in there.

Chie stared at the TV, her eyes wide. "Holy crap this is huge! And- holy crap it's expensive…! Who the hell buys something like this?!"

Yosuke shrugged as he looked over at Chie. "I dunno. Rich people? Honestly… not many people shop for TV's here. That's why we don't have clerks around."

Chie looked at the TV's around them. "Huh… not worth trying then… well, at least looking's free."

Yosuke nodded. "So… Chie, what kind of TV are you guys in the market for?"

Chie shrugged. "I dunno. They just said that they wanted something cheap. You got any suggestions?"

Yosuke nodded. "Sure. Follow me." He began to walk off towards some of the smaller TV's, their voices fading in the distance.

Yu stared at the TV for a moment, then walked up to it. He paused for a moment, then placed his whole hand through the screen, white ripples coming from his wrist.

Yosuke looked back at Yu. "Oh! I just remembered! What kind of… laptop… do you…?!"

Yu glanced over at Yosuke. ' _Maybe I should've told them…'_

Chie stared at Yosuke. "Huh? What's wrong Yosuke?" She turned to look at Yu, and then yelped when she saw what was happening. "W-What the hell?!"

"Is his arm… I-Inside of the TV?!"

' _Yep. I should've told them.'_

Chie stared at the spectacle. "W-Whoa… I-Is that some kind of new model…? Y'know… with a special function or something…?"

Yosuke shook his head violently. "Hell no!"

The two ran back over to Yu and gaped at the impossible sight they were seeing. Chie was the first to speak. "You gotta be kidding me…! Your hand really is inside the TV!"

Yosuke began to sweat. "O-Oh man. This is for real…! That's some magic trick man! W-What's the magician's secret?!"

Yu looked back at the two and then stared at the TV. ' _This is stupid… but it'll prove that it's real.'_ He took his hand out, climbed up onto the stand, and stuck his head into the screen.

Yosuke actually started fidgeting and looking around. "H-Hey, don't do that! What're you doing?!"

Chie jumped back. "Oh my god!"

Yu looked around inside of the TV. "It's pretty empty inside of here."

Yosuke looked pained. "W-What do you mean 'inside'?!"

"What do you mean 'empty space'?!"

Yu sighed. "I mean that it's very spacious in here."

Yosuke looked even more pained. "W-What do you mean by 'spacious'?!"

Chie stomped her foot in frustration. "Dammit, what the hell is going on?!"

Yosuke's eyes widened even further somehow. He closed his eyes and held his crotch with both hands. "Holy crap… I-I think this is all too much for my bladder…!"

Chie stared at Yosuke. "W-What the… Are you gonna piss your pants?!"

Yosuke gritted his teeth. "I-I've been holding it in all day…! I haven't had a chance to go…" He groaned in pain. "Can't… hold it… any… more!" He ran off to the left for a few seconds, then quickly ran back over to the TV. "Shit! Customers! They're coming!"

Chie flinched back. "W-What?! But we got a guy half stuck in the TV here!"

Yu became confused. "Umm… guys? I'm not stuck. I was just looking around- You're not listening…"

"W-What're we gonna do…?!" The two started running in an intersecting path, probably trying to think, when they suddenly tripped and fell towards Yu.

"W-Woah!" Yosuke cried out as he fell into the TV with Chie.

Yu's eyes widened as they fell. He noticed that it was like they were falling through TV screens. But there were falling, so that meant that there had to be some form of ground. He gritted his teeth and forced himself to flip around in the air to where his feet were facing the way he was falling. Speaking of the ground, Yu was barely able to make it out with all of the fog, but when he landed, he rolled into the fall, negating all damage that would've happened. Yosuke and Chie however landed violently.

Yosuke rubbed his ass once he stopped rolling. "Oww… Dammit. I landed on my wallet…"

Chie groaned in pain and then looked up. "Whoa… What is this place…? Some… place inside Junes…?"

Yu stood up silently.

Yosuke groaned as he stood. "Hell no it isn't…I mean, we fell through a TV!" He then hesitated. "A-Actually…uhh… what IS going on here…?"

Yu looked over at Chie, trying to think of something to say, then just looked forward again.

 **You have entered the Realm of Truth and Desires!**

 **While you are in here, you will be blinded by the fog of the mind, and will grow incrementally more exhausted as time goes by. The exhaustion effect is negated by [Gamer's Body]**

Yu let out a small sigh. ' _Well, at least I won't get tired. But… Chie and Yosuke might be in danger here.'_

Chie shuddered. "S-So… uh… we're all still alive… right?"

Yu looked at both of their HP bars, and saw that they had sustained a pretty good amount of damage. "Are you two alright?"

Yosuke groaned again. "I think my butt's cracked now…"

Chie scoffed angrily. "Of course it is!"

Yosuke looked around, and then looked up. "W-Woah!"

Chie then stared at Yosuke. "W-What now?! Did… did you wet your pants?!"

Yosuke shook his head violently. "No stupid! Look around!"

Chie looked around, as per Yosuke's instruction. "Is… Is this a studio…?" She then coughed a bit. "Jesus… all this fog… or is it… smoke? T-There's no place like this in Inaba… is there?"

"H-Hell no…" Yosuke was in shock, so it's understandable that he would use some of the same words over and over again. "But… man… this place is huge…!"

Chie looked back at Yu. "W-What're we gonna do…?"

Yu closed his eyes in thought. As he'd experienced, **[Gamer's Mind]** has a delay on quenching his doubts. So, instead he decided to keep himself calm, without relying on the skill that much. "Let's look around. We might be able to find a way out of here."

Chie… didn't seem to hear the second part. Again, they're in shock. "H-Huh…? But…"

Yu sighed. "I know that we need to get home. I get it. But we won't be able to find anything clue at all if we stay here, scared shitless. I'm just as scared as you two, but I'm not going to let that stop me." He then looked around for the first time, searching for a pathway. "So, we have two paths here. Which way do you two want to go?"

Yosuke gulped, then nodded and looked to Yu's left. "That one. I don't know why, but I have a really bad feeling about the one behind you."

Yu made a noise of acknowledgement. "What about you Chie?"

Chie jumped. "W-What?! You're asking me?!" She seemed to shake away her fears. "The one on your left… Yosuke's right about the one on my left. It just feels wrong."

Yu nodded. "Then we go down this one." He turned to his left and started to walk forward without hesitation. ' _Stay strong… stay calm… don't show any sign of hesitation… Find a way out.'_

* * *

Yu walked down a hallway towards a red and black spiraling doorway.

"W-What is this place…? It feels different from where we were before…"

Yosuke sighed. "It looks like some kind of building… But it's so damn foggy that I can't see a thing…"

Chie looked over at Yu. "Are you sure that we just aren't wandering farther away…?"

Yu shook his head. "I'm not sure at all. But we can always go back and try that other path if this one doesn't pan out." He kept walking forward, seeing as he was the only one who could see more than 5 inches past their faces, even if it was only six. He then pointed out the doorway. "Look at that. It could be a way out." He walked forward, seemingly fearlessly, but he had so many ideas and doubt going through his mind. He looked behind him to see if the two others were following him. Then, he touched the door, and it spiraled open, like that dream he had, but… more spinny. As he walked in, he paled. There were torn posters and blood splattered all over the walls. He looked to his right, and saw a scarf tied to a rope, with a chair underneath it.

Yosuke slowly walked into the room and froze as he saw the same things Yu saw. "What the hell is this place…?!"

 **You have entered a rest area in the dungeon! All negative status effects will fade as you rest.**

Yu furrowed his brow. "The fog is much lighter in here… Looks like a place we can rest for a bit if we need to." He examined the bed to make sure that he wouldn't find a corpse, and when he didn't, he sat down. It wasn't like he needed rest, but he needed time to scan all of the things in the room.

 **[Observe] has gained a level!**

 **You can now view a target's base stats!**

Yu smirked and used his newly leveled skill on his two… Are they friends yet?

 **Name: Yosuke Hanamura**

 **Title: The Winds of Stagnation**

 **LV:4**

 **HP: 100/100**

 **SP: 0/0**

 **STR: 5**

 **VIT: 4**

 **DEX: 7**

 **INT: 5**

 **WIS: 3**

 **LUK: 5**

Yu still didn't feel like intruding on their inner selves by reading their descriptions.

 **Name: Chie Satonaka**

 **Title: Icy Dominatrix, Fiery Protector**

 **LV: 7**

 **HP: 200/200**

 **SP: 0/0**

 **STR: 6**

 **VIT: 8**

 **DEX: 5**

 **INT: 4**

 **WIS: 2**

 **LUK: 4**

Yu then wondered why his two companions didn't have any SP at all. His thoughts were interrupted by Yosuke.

"Dude… A chair and a rope in this position is never good… It's ties in a noose… and is this a scarf?"

Chie fell onto her knees. "This place is terrible… I want to go home…"

Yu stood up quickly. "We all do Chie. But we can't give up here. We got in, so there has to be a way out." He walked towards the doorway. "I'll wait outside just in case something lives here and it isn't friendly." Yu then walked out into the hallway and froze when he saw something in the distance.

 **What am I?**

 **Teddie**

 **LV: 1**

He relaxed after a moment when his **[Sense Danger]** didn't go off. He let the thing move closer until he saw the outline of… a… stuffed bear? "Hey. What're you doing out here alone?"

Teddie froze and then ran towards Yu. "I could ask you the same question mister! You need to get out of here! It's not safe!"

Yu sighed and leaned towards the bear. He whispered near it. "Could you keep it down? There are two other people in there and they're panicked enough without knowing that it's dangerous. And we would like to get out, but we can't. We haven't found the exit yet."

Teddie perked up a bit as he whispered. "Okay! And I know a way to get to an exit!"

Yu blinked. "You do?" He then smiled. "Then could you help us out here? I don't want those two to ge-"

 **A special skill has been created through a special act!**

 **Through feeling a deadly sense of foreboding that you only feel when death is near, the skill [Detect Bloodlust] has been created!**

 **We'll skip the description for now. It's pretty much the same thing as the other one, but tells you when lethal force is going to be used.**

 **Bloodlust detected 20 feet to the left and closing.**

Yu looked at Teddie and saw him shivering in fear. "Guys! We need to go now!" He then observed Teddie's stats.

 **Name: Teddie**

 **Title: Who am I?**

 **LV: 1**

 **HP: 50/50**

 **SP: 125/125**

 **STR: 1**

 **VIT: 2**

 **DEX: 9**

 **INT: 5**

 **WIS: 1**

 **LUK: ?**

 **A strange bear that knows nothing about itself. What mysteries will he learn about himself?**

Yu nodded to himself and looked behind him. "Hurry up!"

Yosuke came running out of the room with Chie following close behind. "What is i- WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING?!"

Yu scowled. "Ask questions later! We need to run!" He looked back at Teddie. "Can you lead them to where we fell? You're a bear, so I'm guessing that you have a pretty good sense of smell." Yu held his hand to Teddie's nose. "Use my scent to lead them back to where we came from."

Chie looked at Yu like he was crazy. "Are you insane?! What about you?!"

"I'll stall it. I might even be able to take it down. Go with the bear."

Yosuke tried to object. "But-"

Yu forced anger onto his face. "We don't have time for this! Go now! Otherwise we all die!"

 **Bloodlust detected.**

 **10 feet to your left and closing.**

Yu stood up and pushed them forward. "This isn't a game. Go. Don't look back. I'll catch up to you." He looked at Teddie with soft eyes. "I'm trusting you to take them back. Don't break that trust."

Teddie stared at him, then nodded with conviction in his eyes. "You can count on me!" He then snatched both Chie and Yosuke's wrists and ran off at full speed, leaving a trail of dust behind the three.

Yu sighed and turned to the left and stared at a wall.

" _Do you wish to protect them…? Even if it costs you your life?"_

Yu closed his eyes as he heard Philemon's voice ring in his head. "Yes. I won't let them die as long as I can still fight."

" _Then you now know that you must fight…?"_

"Yes. I do."

" _Then… perhaps you ARE worthy of the power of Persona…"_

A blue contract appeared in front of Yu.

 **Contract of the Soul**

 **You have proven yourself to Philemon and have earned his trust. This contract simply states that you will be accountable for all of your actions.**

Yu stared at the contract and held his hand towards it. A blue feather pen appeared in his hand. "I… Yu Narukami, accept the terms of this contract, and will be accountable for all of my actions, no matter how gruesome they may be." He quickly signed his name and the contract shattered. The shards flowed into Yu's body.

" _Then go forth… and protect them."_

As Philemon finished speaking, the wall in front of Yu splintered into oblivion, revealing a… a giant mouth on a ball. He hesitated for a single second and was knocked off the railing by the thing. Yu stared at the quickly approaching ground and flipped himself in the air again, landing perfectly on the concrete pavement. His **[Sense Bloodlust]** skill went off again as he jumped backwards from where he was a second mouth slamming into the empty space. " **Observe**."

 **Slipping Hablerie**

 **HP: 40/40**

 **SP: 35/35**

 **STR: 10**

 **VIT: 0**

 **DEX: 3**

 **INT: 0**

 **WIS: 0**

 **LUK: 0**

" _I am thou…"_

Yu gritted his teeth as the headache came up again.

" _Thou Art I…"_

He closed his eyes as the pain intensified.

" _Open thine eyes… and call forth what is within!"_

The pain immediately stopped and in Yu's hand was a tarot card. He looked up at the things and saw that there were 6 of them, and they were… hesitating for some reason. Yu looked back down at the card and slowly flipped it over in his hand. It showed his reflection. The card then began to glow a blinding light, that was comforting for him, but seemed to frighten the monsters.

" _Yu-kun… listen to your soul…"_

"My… soul…?" He closed his eyes and a single word began to form in his mind. He smirked when he reopened his eyes. "Per…so…na!" The card lit aflame in an instant, and he crushed the burning container as he raised it into the air. Yu stared down the monsters as the flame burned brighter. He forced his eyes shut and screamed to the sky in a show of power, a bonfire of blue flames erupting behind him.

 **You have awakened the power of 'Persona'**

 **The Persona 'Izanagi' has been awakened.**

 **You have gained the skills,**

 **[Cleave]**

 **[Summon Persona]**

 **[Zio]**

 **You have gained 'Lightning Affinity: Minimal'**

Yu slowly lowered his head and stared at Hableries with a small smirk on his face. His expression suddenly hardened and he rushed towards the group, Izanagi mimicking his movements. He made a slashing motion with his right arm, causing Izanagi to slash through the ball, killing it instantly. He turned and jumped back when one of the things rushed him. He twisted in the air and used another one of those balls as a platform. He launched off of it and mentally commanded Izanagi to hit it with **[Zio]**. A bolt of lightning fell from the sky and fried the ball to a crisp. Yu looked to the right and twisted out of the way of one of those things charging at him. They were slow. He latched onto the mask that was bolted into its back, and hit it as hard as he could. It shattered after the third punch. He flipped off of it and while he was upside-down, he was hit hard by one of the three remaining enemies.

 **HP: 219/ 275**

Yu called to Izanagi, who flickered over to him and caught him mid-air. He decided that he had SP to burn against these guys and had his Persona hit them with **[Zio]** again, pretty much cooking them.

 **You have gained… 180 EXP**

 **You have gained a level!**

He smiled to himself as he dropped to the ground. "This is amazing! I… I need to keep this active all the time." As soon as he said that, Izanagi shattered and he dropped to his knees, exhausted. "W-What the hell…?" Yu checked his status screen and saw the problem.

 **SP: 0/275**

He was completely drained. He had no clue how it happened. He didn't use **[Zio]** that many times. He checked his new skills and quickly found the problem.

 **Summon Persona** **(Active): LV:1 EXP: 60.00% SP Cost: Special: The inner self manifested as a physical being, granting you the power to fight ? and ?**

 **When active, all skills are channeled through your Persona at a reduced cost and increased damage**

 **When active, physical skills cost HP to activate, but damage output is increased**

 **When active, your motions are mimicked by your inner self**

 **Costs 10000 SP per minute to maintain**

It was a very costly skill, that had it's drawbacks when he wanted to hit things as hard as he could, but the main problem is the SP per minute bullshit. "10000 SP?! How did I even activate it?!" His eyes then gravitated to the top of the skill, where it said that the SP cost was 'Special'. "So… it costs nothing to turn it on… but if I want to keep it on, I'm screwed." After a minute, he was able to stand again and he looked up at the railings. "… How the hell am I supposed to get back up there?"

* * *

*Known as Japanese chess or The General's game.

 **Okay! So, this one was really fun to make, because we got a glimpse into Yu's past, the Kirijo group, or what parts of it that aren't scattered, show up, and we get our first Shadow battle! Now, some people are wondering why or how I updated this quickly, so, let me give you an actual valid reason for once. I wanted to get this done before Valentines Day so I can spend the entire day with the person I love, focused entirely on them. So… yeah. That's really it. I don't have any requests, besides the usual 'follow if you like it, and review if you want to say anything' I'm actually surprised that I'm not getting any hate on this for butchering Persona 4 like this, so I'm really happy about that! And to...hold on a sec. *looks at the reviews* Darkspecter141, while your idea is interesting, I won't have Yu use cheat codes blatantly like that. Though I could make it a reward for a future quest… Anyways, the whole point of cheat codes is to give the player a reward for no work. And you can't really cheat life. Unless you get a reward for surviving a miracle… *hint hint* So! Until next time, I'm The Black Mew, and I'll see you all next time!**


	4. The True Self

**Hey again everyone! I know that this one came out a little later then the last chapter, but I'm pretty sure that you'll like this one! On another note, I'll be answering some questions on this fic and responding to reviews on the previous chapter, so...yeah. Some of them I've already answered through a PM, but I want to tell everyone the answer to the questions. So… let's start.**

 **\- lincoln time - No, I will not have Yu be using an Evoker to summon his Persona. He will be using the Tarot card to do it. Though that might change at some point. And no, the Kirijo group does not know about Yu's Gamer powers.**

 **\- blarg7865 - He may encounter people from the Abyss that we already know who move around a lot, like Lolikiano Mistream, and her Grand Warrior, Dylan. Yes, that is his name for all of the people who aren't caught up with the manhwa. And he will be learning more skills other than the generic ones and ones unique to Persona users. Like summoning.**

 **\- MysticSpider - Levels are relative. They correspond to age, and potential skill level to anyone else who isn't a PC, who gains levels, and gains potential and realized skill levels as they progress. Besides, I've played games where NPCs are like level 20 and have horrible health. Also, I know what those two stats usually do, and… I don't really see where the issue is where you would have to explain what they do… If I find it by the end of this chapter, I'll address it at the end, along with any other reviews that happen to come up while I'm writing this up.**

 **\- Guest - Yes, the goal was for you to hate them, because they're going to be important. So hold onto all of your rage and hate for them until that event happens, because you're going to love what happens.**

 **Anyways, with that done, it's time for the next chapter!**

* * *

"Speech"

' _Thought'_

" _Telepathy"_

" _ **Shadows"**_

 **Windows/Skills**

* * *

Arc 1: Jester's Folly: Chapter 4: The True Self

Yu walked up the stairs to the scaffolding, panting slightly from the lack of SP in his system, as well as the flipping around. "Okay Yu… time for those eleven points in INT to pay off… where the hell am I?" He closed his eyes and retraced his steps mentally. He began to walk forward. "Right… we walked in a straight line this whole time. Why am I worried?" Yu smiled and then groaned. "Great… I jinxed myself…"

 **Bloodlust Detected**

 **50 feet behind you and closing**

"Yep…" Yu looked behind him and saw a hoard of those Hableries coming towards him. "…" He took off running. "Shit shit shit shit SHIT!" He quickly outran the crowd, seeing as they were really slow, but he was still tired from his previous battle. He doubted that he could take that entire swarm, even though he took out the first six very easily. ' _Next time… don't be… so flashy… when fighting!'_ He expected an INT point for that, but quickly realized that it was common knowledge. He looked at the **[Detect Bloodlust]** update window and saw that if it was a constant source of bloodlust, then it didn't annoy him with windows every time they got closer or farther away from him, instead, the numbers just changed as the distance changed, which seemed very useful. He gritted his teeth as he pushed himself to run faster. He watched the window and when it disappeared, he just kept running. All that meant was that he was out of range of the bloodlust, which wasn't that far. He panted heavily as he ran, completely out of energy, but his need for survival pushed him farther.

 **You have honed your speed and reflexes. +1 DEX**

 **You have broken past your old limits and pushed through your new ones! +1 VIT**

The heavy panting quickly became controlled breaths as soon as his stat leveled up. He paused for a moment to catch his breath, then looked behind him, seeing the hoard far away, but close enough to be a problem still. He groaned as he kept running, slightly faster than before. Seeing as his DEX stat was almost four times of those things, he was still able to distance himself fairly quickly, making the crowd actually seem like a single large being. He looked behind him again and saw that the hoard of Hableries have stopped chasing him. So… he collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air. "What… the hell… are those?!"

A squeaking sound came closer to Yu. "Those are Shadows… All I know is that they're dangerous… which is why you need to leave now!"

Yu slowly stood up and dusted off his pants, still slightly out of breath.

 **You have chosen to live to fight another day, and ran from impossible odds. +1 WIS**

Yu sighed and then looked around. The fog cleared only the slightest bit. He hummed to himself and then looked at Teddie. "Where are the others?"

Teddie turned around and led Yu to a stack of TV's. "I already sent them through! I told them that I'd leave the exit open until you walked through!"

Yu smiled. "Thank you… What's your name?"

Teddie pointed at himself with a thumb. "I'm Teddie!"

Yu nodded and stepped in front of the exit. "So… how do I…!"

Teddie began to push Yu through the exit. "Out out out! I'm a busy bear!"

Yu looked back at Teddie and stepped forward, knocking the bear off balance, causing him to fall. He watched the stuffed bear flail around for a moment before helping him back up. Yu then shook his hand. "Take care of yourself Teddie. I don't want to see you tattered and thrown away, okay?" He then stepped through the exit, waving goodbye.

* * *

Mitsuru looked over the records of Yu's parents. She wasn't liking what she saw. "There are multiple cases of unprovoked violence towards other employees, abuse of their position, embezzlement… how my father kept these two is shocking…"

Akihiko cracked his knuckles. "You want me to take care of them…?"

Mitsuru shook her head. "No. We can't be linked in this at all. We're going to have to hire someone."

Fuuka nodded. "But who can we hire? It's not like we can just use anyone…"

Aigis raised her hand. "Mitsuru-san. I believe that I have an idea of who we can hire for this job."

* * *

Yu stepped through the TV, then tripped and fell face first onto the ground. He groaned slightly.

Chie yelped and then saw that it was Yu. "Oh my god! He's okay!"

Yosuke quickly helped Yu up. "Dude, are you alright? Please tell me that you're alright!"

Yu was still exhausted, so all he did was give a slight thumbs up.

Chie sighed in relief "Thank god you're okay! We wanted to wait, but that bear forced us through the exit… D-Did you get hurt?"

Yu shook his head. "I'm fine."

Yosuke looked at Yu like he was crazy. "Dude, there is no way that you're fine. I mean, that place is horrible! And… were we in there for a while…?"

A 'bell' rang through Junes. "Attention shoppers! Our daily limited-time sale will now begin at the side dish area on the first floor! Why not try the delicious, fresh produce Junes picked for you as your side dish for dinner tonight? All ages are invited to take advantage of this incredible bargain!"

Yosuke groaned. "We were in there for a while… I don't think that any of us are okay… but… huh?" He looked past Yu and looked at a poster. He let Yu stand on his own two feet and walked over to it. "This poster was in that creepy room…"

Chie walked over to Yosuke as well. "Hey… your right. I couldn't tell before, without the face, but it was Misuzu Hiiragi… She's been all over the news lately. Something about… her husband having an affair with the announcer lady who died the other day…"

"Her name is Mayumi Yamano… she may be dead, but she's still a person." Yu walked in between the two of them, just in case they started fighting.

Yosuke nodded. "He's right… we can't just forget her name because she's dead… But, could this mean that the room we saw could be related to Yamano's death?" He looked at the ground, a worried expression on his face. "Now that I think of it… there was that creepy noose hanging from the ceiling…" He shook head with a noise that I can't describe. "Stop! No more! We gotta stop talking about this!" He looked up at the ceiling with his eyes closed. "I'm gonna wipe what happened today from my brain! I don't think that my heart can take it anymore…"

Chie nodded and looked at the ground. "I'm feeling a chill too… Let's go home… I wanna lay down and sleep…"

Yosuke looked at Yu. "I'll take her home. You should go home too. We're all feeling the same thing, so you'll need some rest." He then walked off with Chie.

Yu looked around and saw that no one was looking at him. He used **[Rengoku]** and got a message.

 **You're extensive use of [Rengoku] in such a short amount of time has unlocked it's hidden ability!**

 **You can now create dungeons to hunt monsters in!**

 **Dungeons unlocked:**

 **Zombie**

 **Ghost**

 **Shadow (!)**

Yu looked at the last one curiously. He pressed on the **!** and watched as a dripping red window popped up.

 **WARNING! THIS DUNGEON CAN BE INFLUENCED BY OTHERS, AND YOU MAY ENCOUNTER A CREATURE THAT WILL KILL YOU IN AN INSTANT!**

He stared at the window and then gulped. "Well… the shadow dungeon is out for now…" Yu then tried to open a Zombie dungeon. A normal red window popped up.

 **This dungeon may only be used at night!**

Yu then groaned. "Fine… I'll play by your rules game." Yu broke the barrier and walked around Junes, until he reached the weapons section. He looked at a katana and then scowled. "I wonder…" He looked around and saw that no one was looking at him, then he saw that there were no cameras, not even those round ones. So he broke the lock subtly and shoved the katana into his **Inventory**. He then entered a barrier and walked away from the now empty casing. "Sorry… But I need this weapon." He pulled it out of his **Inventory** and looked at it with **[Observe]**

 **Imitation Katana**

 **A cheap blade that, while it can still cut, is nothing compared to the real thing.**

 **5 - 15 slashing damage**

 **5% Crit Chance**

 **100% Durability**

 **REQ STR to wield: 5**

Yu sighed at the crappy stats on the weapon, but relented. "A weapon is a weapon…" He walked out of the empty copy of Junes and towards Dojima's house. "Man… A fast travel option would sure come in handy…" He looked up at the red sky. "… Really? No fast travel?" A window popped up.

 **We want to give you every chance to train your stats up! You might be stronger now, but anyone can reach that level of skill through training and/or drugs, so… get to work!**

He groaned. "Fine…" He started running again at his top speed, and then tripped over a rock that… wasn't there before.

"You know kid… You might be new to this place… So I'm gonna tell you this right now." A man in a red jacket with a claymore on his back looked at him. "Stay out of my way, and you won't get hurt." He pulled a slice of pizza from… somewhere and began to much on it, like he hadn't a care in the world.

 **Your barrier has crossed into ?'s. Demons will begin to spawn.**

Yu drew his blade once he read the word Demon. He then looked behind him and saw the man.

 **?**

 **Dante**

 **LV: ?**

He didn't bother to use **[Observe]** on the man, because if he couldn't see his level, he doubted that he could see his stats.

The man looked at Yu. "Really kid? You're gonna fight me with that puny thing?"

Yu shook his head. "No. I just know that something's going to happen."

 **Bloodlust detected!**

 **All around you!**

 **[Detect Bloodlust] has gained a level!**

 **[Detect Bloodlust] has gained a level!**

 **[Detect Bloodlust] has gained a level!**

 **[Detect Bloodlust] has gained a level!**

Yu tensed up and looked around him to see creatures appearing around him.

Dante yawned. "What, are you scared of these small fry? I guess a kid like you would be." The white haired man took another bite of his pizza and drew his blade from his back. "I'll handle this. Just leave."

Yu **Observed** one and then nearly laughed at their stats.

 **Marionette**

 **HP: 100/100**

 **SP: 0/0**

 **STR: 5**

 **VIT: 3**

 **DEX: 7**

 **INT: 1**

 **WIS: 0**

 **LUK: 0 (Puppets don't get luck)**

He then let lightning course through his arm and he launched **[Zio]** at one of them. It didn't kill them, but it shocked them for a moment. "Why? Like you said, these are small fry."

Dante actually did laugh. "You know what? I think we're gonna get along nicely kid." He finished his slice of pizza and smirked. "Let's dance!" He rushed forward, leaving an afterimage of himself...that ran the other way, shooting dual machine pistols.

Yu watched Dante tear through a hoard of enemies. His **[Sense Danger]** ability went off and he stepped out of the way of a downward claw slash that tore through the ground. He slashed at the demon and dealt a horrible amount of damage. "Fuck this!" He jumped back and a card floated down in front of him. "Come! Persona!" He sliced through the card and summoned Izanagi in a burst of blue flames.

Dante looked back at Yu and his eyes widened. "Is that a Devil Trigger?!" He was then hit in the face. Hard. "Bastard!" He threw the claymore at the demon who hit him and sliced through it. He landed in a crouch, with his two black and white machine pistols crossed across his chest. "Oh, you're gonna get it now!"

Yu blocked another strike from a demon and had Izanagi strike it, sending it flying towards a wall. The impact killed it. He smirked and then jumped back as a comically sized blade attached to one of the demons sliced through the air in front of him. ' _38 seconds'_ He had Izanagi hold that one in place as he jumped over and cut the very thin strings that were attached to the demon. They snapped with ease and the demon fell limp. Yu beheaded it, killing it quickly. ' _10 seconds'_ He saw the claymore land near him and he rushed over to it. He had Izanagi pick it up and prepare to throw it. ' _5'_ "Dante!"

Dante just finished off the crowd around him and looked over at Yu, who was holding Rebellion. "Did that kid just say my name?"

He lobbed the claymore at Dante, causing it to cut through the air around it. ' _1'_ Yu deactivated Izanagi and saw that he still had his SP. He found an exploit.

Dante smirked and held out his hand to catch his blade with ease by the handle as it stabbed into the demon behind him. He placed it onto his back again and held out his hand, causing a guitar to form from a swarm of bats. He started to strum the strings expertly as sparks of electricity formed in the air around him. Dante grinned as he slammed his hand down, playing a demonic chord and sending a bolt of lightning through the hoard of demons, turning whatever got hit by it into ash. He threw the guitar away and as it faded into bats, flaming gauntlets appeared around his hands in a burst of black flames. He rushed through the crowd towards Yu, hitting anything that got in his way.

"Izanagi!" Yu summoned his Persona again just in time to block a triple assault from the demons. He channeled **[Zio]** through Izanagi and used it to shock the demons. Yu slid under them and sliced at their backs multiple times, killing them. A window popped up, but he ignored it. He flipped out of the way of another demon, who was then obliterated by Dante.

Dante punched through a demon who attacked the kid and let his gauntlets fade as he drew his claymore again. He stood back to back with Yu as a reflex, remembering when he fought against these things with his brother. That he killed. "You still wanna stick around kid?"

Yu stood back to back with Dante, holding his blade in front of him defensively. "No way am I going to leave now. I'd probably be hunted down and dragged back here anyways." He dispelled Izanagi and looked at the window…s.

 **You have gained a level!**

 **Through the act of fighting with a blade, the skill [Sword Mastery] has been created!**

 **Sword Mastery** **(Passive): LV:1 EXP: 17.37%: The art of wielding a weapon comes naturally to some, but most spend their entire lives mastering a single weapon.**

 **\+ 10% damage when using Swords**

 **+5% Crit Chance when using Swords**

 **-10% Durability degradation on all Swords**

 **[Sense Danger] has gained a level!**

 **[Detect Bloodlust] has gained a level!**

 **[Summon Persona] has gained a level!**

 **[Zio] has gained a level!**

 **You are in perfect synchronization with Dante. You are both empowered greatly for a time.**

Yu readied his blade and at an unsaid signal that only people who either fight together for years, or people who adapt quickly feel, they rushed forward, and began hacking through their enemies, each slash killing at least two demons. For Dante, this was child's play now. The only reason he was having a little bit of trouble before was because he was still waking up. For Yu however, the difference was almost stunning. His blade, while still an imitation, cut through the puppets like they were paper. From an outside view, it almost looked like the two were dancing. Windows began to pop up around Yu, but he kept ignoring them and continued the fight, wanting to get it over with. Yu sliced off limbs, blades, guns (don't ask) and all sorts of other stuff as he cleared the crowd with Dante.

Dante was actually starting to have fun now, his blade cut through the demons instead of hacking through them, he moved faster, and he could see through the wave of demonic blood he was creating like it was water. He had no idea what that kid did, but damn it felt good! He was tempted to change weapons, but he was having fun with Rebellion, so he figured, what the hell, and kept killing.

After what seemed like hours to Yu, but was really only a few minutes, he slashed through the last demon on his side, panting heavily as a rain of demonic blood began to fall from the sky, painting Yu's hair a dark red.

 **You have gained a level!**

 **You have gained a level!**

 **You have gained a level!**

 **[Sword Mastery] has gained a level!**

 **[Sword Mastery] has gained a level!**

 **[Sword Mastery] has gained a level!**

 **[Sword Mastery] has gained a level!**

 **[Sword Mastery] has gained a level!**

Dante clipped his blade back onto his coat and began to clap as he walked over to Yu. "Not to bad kid. You got guts, and that'll take you a much farther then anyone can ever guess." He held his hand out to the kid. "I'm Dante."

Yu looked up at Dante, still panting. He stood up slowly and then took Dante's hand, looking him in the eye, even if he had to look up slightly. "Yu Narukami."

Dante shook his hand. "I gotta say, I expected you to die from this, but your really came through at the end. Your sword, though…" He looked at the katana and laughed. "W-What the hell is that?! Did you buy that at a thrift store?!"

Yu groaned. "Stole it, actually… and I got it from that store over there." He then pointed at Junes. "I know that it's quality is nothing compared to a real blade, but it's the best I can do right now."

Dante scoffed. "Well, if you can kill demons with that butter knife of yours, then you'll be a badass in no time." He slowly drew his blade. "Now then, let's see how skilled you are." He slashed at Yu, who rolled out of the way.

"God dammit! Izanagi!" He crushed the card and Izanagi blocked Dante's next strike. Yu jumped back and used **[Zio]** on Dante, though the electricity was just channeled into his blade.

"Learned to deal with that shit a long time ago kid!" He jumped away from Izanagi and started twirling his blade mockingly. "Though your whole… summoning thing is new. Never had to fight two opponents that shared the same mind. Wait… have I?"

Yu gritted his teeth and sent Izanagi after Dante again, drawing his attention with a frontal assault while Yu ran behind the white haired man and tried to attack him from behind. He failed when Dante began to use dual scimitars.

"Come on kid! You can do better then that!" Dante kicked Yu away, sending him flying.

 **HP: 102/300**

Yu dispelled Izanagi and summoned him again, making sure that he landed on his Persona's shoulder. "As much as I enjoyed our fight against those demons Dante, I feel like I'm not exactly… prepared to fight you just yet."

Dante chuckled as he pulled his dual pistols from his coat. "You really think that I'm gonna let you get away if you have a power like that? No! You got the devil in you kid, and I want to know what makes it tick!" He began to fire at Izanagi, who simply deflected all of the bullets by spinning his weapon.

Izanagi then rushed at Dante, and then stopped short, launching Yu towards the demon hunter. "Let's try this out!" ' _ **[Cleave]**_ ' A blue glow surrounded the shoddy blade and he clashed with Dante, barely holding his ground.

Dante faked surprise. "You're pretty strong for a scrawny kid. Tell me, who do you work for?" He pushed Yu back. "Mundus? Lucia? Virgil? That bastard could never learn when to die… or is it Sanctus?"

Yu activated **[Cleave]** again. "I don't know who any of those are! I'm just trying to survive!" He rushed Dante again, with the man blocking the strike with ease.

Dante smirked. "Seems to me that you're throwing your life away, attacking me like thi-" He stopped short when a blade was stabbed through his chest. It was Izanagi's Naginata.

Yu smirked. "I don't know what it is with everyone wanting everything to be so flashy." He activated **[Cleave]** one more time and swiped his blade across Dante's chest.

 **[Cleave] has gained a level!**

Dante went limp on Izanagi's blade.

Yu stared at Dante as Izanagi dispelled. "… Okay, that's enough theatrics Dante, I know that you're still alive."

Dante groaned as he stood up, the cut on his chest sealing itself up as he stood. He dusted the sleeves off of his jacket and then sighed. "Been awhile since I've been stabbed with something that isn't my own sword." He stretched for a second, before sighing. "That was pretty good for a beginner kid." He then snatched Yu's blade and snapped it in half. "Shitty quality right? You don't need it."

Yu stared at the broken blade. "…"

Dante shrugged. "What's the matter?"

"… That was my only weapon."

"So?"

Yu stared at Dante, then sighed. "I'm not going to win this, am I…?"

Dante shook his head. "Nope. But, you're interesting kid." He pulled a card out of his jacket. "Here's my card. Give me a call if you ever have a demon problem." the barrier began to shatter and Yu was suddenly left standing alone in his own barrier with a card floating down towards the ground. He picked it up and just gave it a good, hard look.

"… Devil May Cry…?" Yu slipped the card into his **Inventory** and resumed his walk like nothing happened. "What does that even mean…?"

 **You have defeated a horde of Demons!**

 **You have unlocked the 'Demon' dungeon!**

"Oh god da- …" Yu shook his head and swiped away the window, just annoyed. And exhausted. And above all else, he had one question once the events of the day finally set in. "… WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!"

* * *

Yu sat with Dojima and Nanako at the table in the living room, his hair grey again. Apparently demon blood comes out very easily. He didn't care to check Dojima and Nanako's stats. He didn't want to intrude on their privacy.

Dojima looked at Yu, slightly nervously. "Um… well, I doubt that you know, but… have you heard anything about a student named Saki Konishi?"

' _Best not tell him about the Midnight Channel.'_ Yu shrugged. "Well, she wasn't at school today… oh! And she works part time at Junes."

 **[Deception] has gained a level!**

"Is she a friend of yours?"

Yu shook his head. "Not really, I only talked to her once, but she seemed close to Yosuke Hanamura. He's… still not sure if I can call him a friend when I've only been here for three days…" ' _And in those three days, I've been through more hell then I'd ever… that's not true. It's just been a clusterfuck of different crazy scenarios_ _that shouldn't be connected, but they are.'_

"Huh…" Dojima sighed. "Well, to be honest… we got a call about her today. She's missing." He looked down at his ramen. "We have people looking for her, but we haven't turned up anything yet."

' _She's missing?! Then… the Midnight Channel definitely isn't for finding your soulmate… and with that TV world… is… is she dead…?'_

Dojima sighed again. "Work just keeps piling up…"

Yu blinked at that. "Well, you're a detective right? Why don't you just focus on the important cases and pass the obvious ones down to the patrol cops?"

Dojima shook his head. "If I could, I would, but we just don't have enough cops here to do that. On top of that, there was this theft at Junes this afternoon… and we have no leads. No fingerprints at the scene… and the lock was broken, so we can't look for anyone who has a past of petty theft…" He sighed again and turned on the TV.

It just happened to be the news. "And now, more on the case still casting a shadow over the foggy town of Inaba." A picture of Mayumi flashed onto the screen. "Not long ago, television announcer Mayumi Yamano was found dead in the small town. Up until now, her whereabouts up until her death had been unknown. But the police have released that she had been staying in the region's Amagi Inn."

' _The Amagi Inn… the announcer was staying in Yukiko's families inn before she died?'_

"She had apparently been staying there alone. Perhaps she was taking a vacation to recover from her ordeal…?"

The commentator who… probably knew nothing of what was going on, opened his mouth again. "Oh yes! The Amagi Inn! Their hotsprings are first-rate! The manager's teenage daughter also works there! It's rumored that she'll take over this spring. If that happens, she'll be the youngest manager on record! I should book another trip there…"

Yu groaned and shook his head. "Just don't say anything else… rumors are just rumors, and no one at our age can handle that stress…"

"U-Uh… I-I see…" The anchor cleared his throat. "N-Now onto our weather report. The rain has began to subside, and as a result, from now until morning, heavy fog warnings will be in effect in the Inaba region. Visibility will be severely reduced, so please be careful if you plan on driving in the area."

Yu tuned out the rest of the news. ' _Okay… let's phrase that into something that I can work with… Mayumi Yamano was found dead while staying at Yukiko's family Inn… and Saki is nowhere to be found, though she found the body… She was also on the Midnight Channel last night, so… could that be connected to that other world…?'_ Yu shook his head. ' _Even if it did, there's no physical evidence that the TV world even exists other than me going there…'_

Nanako looked over at her father. "Is the ramen ready now…?"

Dojima shook his head. "Give it a little more time."

Yu sighed and stood up. "I'm going upstairs to study." He walked towards his room and up the stairs. Once he entered his room, he pulled out his phone and texted Mitsuru. 'We need to meet.' He pulled up his skill list and stared at **[Summon Persona]** for a bit. "… How am I going to train you…?" He activated the skill and the card formed from nothing. It landed in his hand. He flipped the card over and it was a picture of Izanagi staring back at him, his weapon across his chest. "… You're me… so why does your name sound so familiar…?" He stared at the card, then crushed it, freeing his Persona. He turned around and stared himself in the eyes.

He stared back into his own.

Yu lifted his left hand, and Izanagi did the same. He looked at the spear and thought about him setting it down.

Izanagi set the spear down.

Yu picked up the spear and tried to **[Observe]** it, but nothing came up. He sighed and dispelled Izanagi, the spear going with him. "I'm sure that Mitsuru could explain…" He then checked the time and smirked. "Time to hunt. **[Rengoku]**!" A pulse of energy emanated from Yu and he then opened the window in his room and hopped out of it, landing on the street. He heard a moaning from behind him and when he turned, he saw three zombies behind him. " **[Observe]** "

 **Zombie**

 **LV: 3**

 **HP: 200/200**

 **SP: 0/0**

 **STR: 5**

 **VIT: 5**

 **DEX: 2**

 **INT: 1**

 **WIS: 0**

 **LUK: 0 (Your dead. Your luck sucks)**

Yu chuckled. "What did I expect out of the Zombie dungeon?" He stared at the three walking corpses and summoned Izanagi silently. He threw his arm towards the monsters and Izanagi flew towards then and sliced through one of them. He then hit one of them with the blunt end of his spear as he sliced through another one. Yu walked up to the zombie and thought about Izanagi becoming a weapon. Izanagi glowed and dissolved.

 **ERROR! Your Level in [Summon Persona] is insufficient to perform that action.**

Yu was disappointed, but not enough to be distracted. He stepped to the side and knocked the zombie down again. He launched a **[Zio]** at the corpse and watched as all three bodies faded. Yu stared at what remained. "… Is this money?" He picked up a stack of yen and placed it into his **Inventory.**

 **Yen: 1000** *

"It's real money…" He stared at the new numbers and then looked at where the other bodies fell and saw more money. He quickly deposited the cash and looked around to see that more zombies were spawning in. He smiled again and let electricity course through his arms. "This is gonna be good."

* * *

"THIS IS NOT GOOD!" Yu was running from a large hoard of zombies that had spawned a few minutes ago. He ran, and ran… and ran… until he saw Dojima's house. He jumped on top of the car and pulled himself up onto the metal roof of the car cover and panted heavily. He couldn't fight those guys without a weapon, and he didn't want to risk running out of SP by using Izanagi… He figured that he should call it a night anyways. He had collected a fair amount of money, a total of 10000 Yen*, a couple of teeth, some ribs for some reason, and this weird purple stone labeled as a Soul Stone. Yu sighed as he entered his room. He closed the window behind him and broke the barrier.

"You've been busy."

Yu flinched and whirled around to see Mitsuru standing there. He relaxed and sat down on the couch. "How did you get here so fast?"

Mitsuru chuckled. "I never left Inaba. My plane doesn't leave until tomorrow." She pulled a case from behind her and set it on the table. "Have you had second thoughts?"

Yu shook his head. "Actually, I needed you to answer a question of mine." He summoned Izanagi, making Mitsuru fall backwards. "Does the name 'Izanagi' mean anything?"

Mitsuru slowly stood up and created a barrier around them. "How… How are you doing that?!"

Yu was confused. "Doing what?"

The red head pointed at Izanagi. "That! How did you summon your Persona without an Evoker?!"

Yu blinked. "You can't do this?"

Mitsuru shook her head. "No one can! It should be impossible to call forth your Persona without forcing it out!"

Yu shrugged, then collapsed when Izanagi dispelled. "I can't keep it up for long though… A minute a most…"

Mitsuru stared at Yu, then chuckled. "Well, that's to be expected. Maintaining your persona is very strenuous on your psyche. And the fact that you're able to use it without the use of an Evoker means that it must be more taxing than usual." She helped Yu sit up straight again and then sighed. "As to your question, it isn't surprising that you don't know of him." She grabbed the chair by Yu's desk and sat down. "As you know, the Shinto religion is dying out to the more common ones such as Christianity and Judaism. Izanagi is one of those gods."

Yu looked at Mitsuru like she was crazy. "So… my persona is… a god?"

"No. While it may be named after a god, its power pales in comparison to the true Izanagi."

Yu's look intensified. "There's a real Izanagi?!"

Mitsuru nodded. "Every single god of every single religion exists. Though, they cannot enter our realm, and have most likely stopped caring about us long ago. Save few…"

Yu had regenerated enough SP to be able to move again, so he scooted closer to the woman. "How do you know this?"

Kirijo sighed. "Well, I've encountered a god before. The Greek goddess of the night, Nix."

"And you survived?"

Mitsuru looked at the ground. "… Not all of us did… our field leader sacrificed himself to stop The Avatar of Nyx from destroying the world."

"The… Avatar?"

She sighed again. "For gods to enter the material world, they need to have an Avatar. Nyx, while completely neutral, wanted to grant the wish of man, which was death. The entire world was engulfed in the Dark Hour, and people became Shadows… There were hundreds of them… we were quickly overtaken, and… they were afraid of him. Our field leader… he performed a miracle. He stopped Nyx and… and…" She wiped away her tears and then took a deep breath.

 **!Quest Alert!  
Learning the Past**

 **Main Quest: Learn the name of the Shadow Operative's past Field Leader**

 **Reward: Quest line unlocked! 500 EXP**

 **Do you accept this Quest?**

 **[YES/NO]**

Yu subtly hit **YES** and nodded. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

Mitsuru nodded and then looked back up at Yu, her face as stoic as ever. "Thank you, but we've seemed to veer off of the original subject. Anyways, Izanagi is a god from the Shinto religion. He was supposedly half of the last generation of the Kamiyonanayo**, who were responsible for creating the archipelago of Japan. That is not true. In truth, humans created Izanagi and all the other gods through the collection of Idea Power, I'll explain that part at a later date if you decide to join us."

Yu nodded slowly. "And… the spear?"

"The spear… Hmm… well, because your Persona is named after the god Izanagi, I can only guess that it is the Ame-no-nuboko***, a form of naginata, which is a bladed form of a polearm, that was used to create the land under our feet."

Yu gave Mitsuru that 'are you crazy' look again. "… Okay… so, now knowing all of that, if the Persona is supposed to be a reflection of the soul, then what does that say about me?"

"I have no clue. It could mean a number of things." Mitsuru opened the case and revealed the Evoker again. "So, would you like to join us…? And before you say no, the previous issue of yours is being… taken care of."

Yu stared at the gun-like object and then gently took it out of the case. "This is proof that I'm one of you, right?"

Mitsuru nodded. "When you pull the trigger, a needle will go into your hand and record your DNA, only allowing you to use it if you need to."

Yu closed his eyes and pulled the trigger of the Evoker, causing a needle to stab into his hand and take some of his blood.

 **HP: 299/300**

 **You have joined the guild: The Kirijo Group !**

 **You may now receive guild related quests!**

Mitsuru smiled and held out her hand. "Welcome to the team, Yu-san."

Yu tentatively took Mitsuru's hand and shook it, creating a verbal contract.

Mitsuru took her hand away and stood up. "We'll send you the paperwork, along with a company computer to perform your job with." She closed the case and grasped the handle. "We expect big things from you." She opened the window and gave Yu one last look before she jumped out of the now open window.

Yu groaned as he placed his Evoker into his **Inventory** and heard a shattering sound. Apparently, there was a range for being in someone's barrier as well. "What the hell is with today…?" He flopped back, laying down on his couch. "Let's recap. I was dragged into this 'Abyss', I fell into a freaking TV, talked to a weird… stuffed bear… thing, killed some things called Shadows, stole a fake katana, used said katana to slaughter a hoard of demons with a professional demon hunter named Dante, fought Dante and survived, killed some zombies, got chased by zombies, and now I've joined a fucking guild!" He calmed down slowly and then closed his eyes, mentally exhausted. "I wonder how this day could get worse…" As he fell asleep, a single thought rang out rang out in his mind. ' _Jinxed'_

* * *

Yu woke up early to a tapping at his window. He slowly opened his eyes and looked out the window to see Aigis outside of his room. He sighed and opened the window to let her in. "Good morning Aigis."

"Good morning Narukami-san." She set down a packet of papers and a laptop. "These documents are merely a safety precaution as well as a way to legally integrate you into the Kirijo Group."

Yu nodded and was about to ask for a pen, but was stopped by Aigis setting one down in front of him. He quickly read through the packet, understanding all of it, and he then signed his name on the bottom of the final page. Yu handed the pen and the contract to Aigis. "Here you go. And don't you need to hurry? Won't your plane leave without you?"

Aigis shook her head. "Of course not, Narukami-san, as I am the pilot."

Yu just accepted it and nodded. "Okay, well, good luck, and I wish you well."

Aigis nodded and exited through the window, which Yu closed right after she left.

Yu closed his eyes again, ignoring the windows he got for sleeping. He groaned and stood up, not seeing the use of sleeping anymore. He glanced over his textbooks and then sighed. He had gotten five more levels just yesterday, but he didn't feel any sense of accomplishment. Just dread. The fact that he had only gained four levels from those demons said how weak they were, but… he could barely scratch a single one of them without Izanagi. And that guy was tearing through them like they were nothing. He obviously had a long way to go, but he didn't have the slightest clue how far until yesterday. In fact, he still had no clue, but what he did know, is that he's out of his league. If any of the people he fought with yesterday had tried to kill him, he'd be dead. There's no doubt about that, and he still had to figure out what the hell this Abyss is. Is it another world, or a way of life? Yu shook his head and equipped his school uniform and walked down the stairs. He saw Dojima getting ready to walk out the door.

Dojima grabbed his jacket and walked towards the door. He looked over at Yu. "Oh, you're up." He checked his watch and sighed quietly. "Well, I'm off." He walked out the door without another word.

Yu was about to ask why he was in a rush, but Nanako looked up at him before he could say it. "Dad has to go do something. He got a call, so… he left." She looked back at the door with a worried expression.

Yu looked down at Nanako and slowly began to understand her pain. She worried so much about Dojima, and he couldn't spend as much time as he wanted with her because of his job. Every time he stepped out of the house, he risked his life for his town, and… more importantly to him, his daughter.

' _I am thou…Thou art I… Thou hast established a new bond… Thou shalt reach new strength when creating Personae of the Hierophant and Justice arcana!'_

 **Social Links**

 **Wow. You got one of these so early on. Didn't expect that. These have two effects. The first one is that as the link between the player and the target strengthens, their overall bond increases, as well as their efficiency in battle when paired together. The second is that the more levels in the social link for each person you interact with enough you have, the bigger the bonus of Persona Fusion depending on the results arcana. Persona Fusion will be explained by Igor.**

 **NOTE: People can have the same Arcana for their Social Links. Because of this, the bonuses from fusion do stack, but complications may occur if people of the same arcana meet.**

Yu read the window, then looked back at Nanako, somehow feeling a slight bond between the two of them. He looked at the time and then sighed. "I have to go Nanako. I promised to meet up with some people before classes today."

Nanako nodded and grabbed her stuff. "They why don't we go together? My school starts earlier then yours, so…"

Yu nodded and took her hand. "Sounds good. Are you ready to go then?"

Nanako nodded, a small, happy smile on her face. The two walked out the door and towards the Samegawa.

* * *

Yu waved Nanako off as she walked towards her school. He sighed and turned around to see Dante in his face. He jumped back and then stared him down. "What are you doing here Dante…?"

Dante shrugged. "I finished my job, heading back to the station, and I saw you walking around with a little girl." He took a bite of a slice of pizza that Yu still didn't know where he got. "So, what is she? Sister? Cousin? Really young GF?"

Yu stared at him. "Cousin. What does it matter to you?"

Dante took another bite of the pizza slice. "It doesn't. Not to me anyways, but you've drawn the attention-" He swallowed the pizza and shuddered. "Not buying this brand anymore. Where was I…? Oh yeah. You've drawn the attention of demons now, so you might get attacked at night, they might kidnap anyone who's close to you if you become enough of a problem to them."

Yu's eyes widened and then looked down at the ground. "Son of a bitch…"

"Of course… I could always be convinced to stay here and take care of the problem… for a price, of course."

Yu looked up at Dante. "How much will it cost to hire you?"

Dante sighed and pulled a notebook from his jacket. "Let me check my rates here… Extermination is $500 up front, or about 60000 yen… rounded up. Scouting is $100… plus an extra $50 per demon I have to kill… and Protection detail is about 50 bucks a week, with an extra 25 per target." He put away the notebook with a sigh. "Well? What'll it be kid? You wanna protect the girl?"

Yu nodded and pulled 8000 yen out of his pocket, as he opened an Inventory window in there. "Here. There's a little extra in there, but I doubt that that's a problem." ' _There goes my money…'_

Dante whistled softly. "You sure kid? Because that looks like it's all of your allowance."

"Just take the damn money."

"Hey, a job is a job. And this one will be easy, considering you only killed some pawns." He took the cash and shoved it into his jacket. "At least Trish can stop nagging me about getting a steady paying job. Though I might have to do some Exterminations during this job, so… yeah."

Yu groaned. "Just… do your job and we won't have a problem. If she's hurt by a demon, hell, if she even sees a single demon… I don't know. I guess I'll just fire you, or dock your pay while she's hospitalized." He walked past Dante. "If you want to discuss the finer details, it can wait until after midnight. If you're doing your job, then you'll know where I'll be." Yu briskly walked away, thanking **[Gamer's Mind]** repeatedly as Dante faded in the distance.

Dante stared at Yu's retreating form and smirked. "Well I'll be damned. The kid has some balls after all." He chuckled as he began to follow Nanako. He paused as he heard sirens in the distance. "… Not my problem." Dante whistled as he resumed his walk.

* * *

Yu looked stood next to Yosuke and behind Chie in the gymnasium, because apparently there was some kind of announcement that the principal wanted to do. It was really… confusing, that the man would call for an assembly today, when there were police sirens blaring all day. He heard two girl gossiping near the group of three, but he ignored them.

Chie looked at the time and sighed as she closed her phone. "Yukiko said that she's be here after lunch…" She shook her head and looked back at Yosuke. "I wonder why they're holding a school assembly all of a sudden." When she got no response, she looked slightly concerned. "What's wrong Yosuke?"

Yosuke glanced up at her, seemingly dragged out of his own thoughts. "Huh? Oh, it's nothing…"

Yu looked up at the stage and saw Ms. Soufe standing behind a podium.

"Everyone, please settle down! The school assembly is about to begin." She looked to her left at an old man with a long, white beard. She then walked away from the podium as the man took her place.

"I… regret to inform you that I have a terrible announcement for all of you…"

Yu was about to look at his name, but that caught his attention more than the principal's name. ' _This is about those sirens…Someone's dead.'_

"One of our third-year students, Ms. Saki Konishi, of Class 3…" He looked down for a moment, as if he was trying not to break. "…has passed away."

Yu, Chie, and Yosuke all looked shocked. Chie was the first to speak. "Passed away…?!"

Yu looked down in thought. She seemed like a nice girl, so he didn't get why someone would want to kill her… unless he was right that something's not right with the Midnight Channel.

Yosuke just grimaced as he looked down, his hands curled into tight fists."

"She was found deceased early this morning, and the reasons of her passing are currently under investigation by the police. If they ask you for your cooperation, I urge you, as students of this school, to provide only the facts."

A slight murmuring went through the crowd of students about Saki.

"Alright, quiet down!" After a moment for the crowd to grow silent again, the principal cleared his throat. "I have been assured by the faculty that there was no sign of bullying involved in this… tragic incident. So mind what you say! Not only to the police, but to anyone who asks!"

"Found dead… how could this happen…?" She turned to Yosuke to ask if he was alright, but she stopped herself short, as it was pretty obvious that he wasn't.

Yosuke stared at the ground in a stunned silence.

Yu barely listened to the principal anymore, and was just worried about Yosuke. He looked like he was taking the news really hard.

* * *

Yu and Chie were walking back to class without Yosuke. He said that he had something to so and he left. Neither of them could think of anything to say to each other… well, in Yu's case, he just didn't want to talk. He was just going to think.

"Did you hear that she died the same way the announcer did? That's so creepy right?"

Yu stopped walking and listened in on the girls that were gossiping about the way their classmate was found dead… I should've infuriated him to no end, however **[Gamer's Mind]** took care of that before he could act rashly.

"Well, last time it was from an antenna, and this time she was hanging from a telephone pole. It's got to be a serial murder case…"

"Someone said that the cause of death was some unknown poison."

"Unknown? Come on, be serious. This isn't some sci-fi drama… Oh! By the way, did you hear? Someone saw a girl that looked like Saki on that Midnight Channel thingy. They said that she totally looked like she was in pain! Isn't that scary?"

One of the girls laughed a little. "Sounds like someone had a nightmare! The media's been broadcasting their interviews with her non-stop. They probably just had Saki on the brain." The two girls then walked off to their classes.

Chie groaned. "Sheese… It's real easy to throw around theories when you're not personally involved… I mean, how could they talk about her like she's nothing more than a conversation piece?!"

Yu shook his head. "Some people are just like that. They're either horrible people, or they genuinely don't know what they're doing wrong."

Yosuke walked up to the two coming from the front door. "… Hey… did you two check out the TV last night…?"

Yu shook his head. "I fell asleep before I could."

Chie sighed and nodded. "I studied to hard and fell asleep…But seriously Yosuke? You're doing this now too?!"

Yosuke snapped back at Chie. "Just listen for a sec!" He took a few slow breaths and then nodded to himself. "Something kept bothering me… so… I watched it again, and… that girl was definitely Saki-senpai."

This seemed to shock Chie, but all this did was confirm Yu's theory.

"There's no doubt about it… And… Senpai looked… she looked like she was writhing in pain…" Yosuke shook away his oncoming tears. "And… then she disappeared from the screen…"

Chie just stared at Yosuke. "W-What…?"

Yosuke stared Chie in the eyes. "You heard that Senpai's body was found in a similar position as that announ-… of Miss Yamano's body… right?"

Yu and Chie just nodded.

"W-Well, remember that guy you told us about Chie? How he was all excited that Ms. Yamano was their soulmate? Maybe… just maybe… but Ms. Yamano might've been on that Midnight Channel before she died too."

Chie began to grow worried again. "W-What's that supposed to mean…? … Hold on… are you saying that… people who appear on that TV… die?"

This actually shocked Yu, so he showed it. He knew that it was something else, but he didn't expect it to be that bad.

Yosuke shook his head. "I… can't say for sure. But something tells me… that this can't just be a coincidence…" He looked into Chie's eyes. "Plus, remember what that bear thing said? How that place was dangerous, and that we should leave before the fog clears?"

Yu looked over at Yosuke. "Te- The bear talked to you too?"

Yosuke just nodded at Yu. "Oh, I never got to thank you for saving our asses back there… I wish there was some other way to do it, but I can't think of anything else to do but to say thanks." Yosuke sighed, glad that he got that bit off of his chest. "But, the bear also told us that someone had been throwing people in there while he pretty much dragged us back to where we came from. And… that room with the torn up posters on the wall… That has to have something to do with that announcer's death! I-I mean… don't you just feel some kind of connection there…? Couldn't that world inside of the TV have something to do with Yamano and Saki-Senpai's death?!" He looked at Chie and saw that she was a little… well, she was processing this. So he turned to Yu. "Well…? What do you think…?"

Once Yu started to think about it, Yosuke was right. It really was too coincidental to just be random chance. If… IF the announcer was thrown in there like Teddie had been saying, then it's very possible that Saki was thrown in there as well. "You're probably right… there are way too many coincidences here for all of this NOT to be connected to the TV world."

Yosuke looked a little lighter, like something was taken off of his shoulders. "So… it's not just me, huh?"

He then looked back at Chie, who… didn't seem like she got it entirely. "If there is a connection, then it's a really good bet that both of them went inside of that world… That would explain the posters in that one room. Which means… that if we look around again, we might be able to find a place that's connected to Senpai, too."

Chie had a look of realization on her face. "Yosuke… please don't tell me that you're going to go back in there!"

Yosuke nodded. "Yeah, I am. But I can't get in on my own…" He turned to Yu. "So I need your help."

Chie shook her head. "Don't do this! Y-You should just let the police handle this, an-"

He looked at Chie again. "The police haven't made a single connection in the official case! They can't even figure out if this is a homicide or not! Besides, what do you think that they'll say when we tell them that there's a world inside of the TV?!" He turned back to Yu. "Please… I'm begging you…"

Yu nodded. "I'll help you get in. To tell you the truth, I wanted to go back there and explore a bit myself."

Yosuke nodded sadly. "Thanks… I know that it's dangerous, it's just… I need to know why Senpai had to die like this…And… there's no way that I can ignore it after what I've seen…" He took another slow breath to steel himself. "I've already gotten some of the stuff that I needed, but… I still need to go get some stuff. I'll be waiting for you at Junes." Yosuke ran out the doors to the school, leaving the two of them behind.

Yu waited for a moment, then started walking towards the front door.

Chie tried to stop him. "What are you doing?! Do you have any idea what will happen if we get caught doing this?"

Yu smiled. "You make it sound like we're doing something wrong. We're just helping a friend who isn't feeling that well through the day. He said that he needed to get some stuff, so who's to say that it isn't cold medicine or something?" He looked behind him, up the stairs. "And do you really want to listen to King Moron blather on about his generation for the third day in a row?"

Chie thought for a moment, then shuddered. "Yep. You have a good point! Let's go!" She sprinted out the building, wanting to get as far away from Morooka as she could.

Yu shook his head and walked out the doors, immediately entering an empty barrier of his to get to run at his top speed. He was at Junes in about ten minutes, glad that it was a small town. He waited a few minutes to break his barrier and then walk inside. He smiled when Yosuke came barreling through the automatic doors. "I thought that you said that _you'd_ be waiting for _me_."

Yosuke panted heavily. "How… How the hell did you do that?! I didn't even see you pass me!"

Yu shrugged. "I was always faster then most people in my class, and there are a lot of ways to get here in a small town like this."

Yosuke quickly caught his breath and nodded. "Alright then… wait in the electronics department then. I still need to get some things." He walked into the store and went into… somewhere that Yu didn't follow.

Yu nodded and walked around in the grocery area to see if there was anything that he could get for dinner. He then looked at the snacks area and what he found… well, in hindsight, it shouldn't have surprised him at all.

 **Rice Cakes**

 **Heals 10 HP when consumed.**

Really should've seen that one coming. He took a look at some of the more healthy stuff and was not disappointed.

 **Health Warrior Chia Bar: Apple Cinnamon flavored**

 **Decreases HP Regen time by 10 seconds (stacks) for 1 minute**

 **Heals 25 HP when consumed**

Yu grabbed that one and… a few more, and then walked away, just carrying them. He walked into the electronics section and saw that there still aren't many cameras around, so he shoved them into his **Inventory** just in case he needed them. He still felt bad about stealing, but this was a matter of survival. He waited for a while and then saw Yosuke coming back with a rope tied around his waist, holding a golf club and the rest of the rope in his other hand.

Yosuke smiled. "Glad to see that you haven't bailed on me just yet." He offered the golf club to Yu. "Here. I know that it isn't much, but I couldn't get into the swords. Someone stole one of them yesterday, and my dad has them on lockdown."

Yu shook his head and then winced internally. "You guys should really get more cameras." He took the golf club and gave it a few test swings before he **Observed** it.

 **Standard 5-Iron Golf club**

 **6-10 bludgeoning damage**

 **10% Crit chance**

 **100% durability**

 **REQ STR: 4**

He swung it one more time and he got a skill for it.

 **Through the act of fighting with a blunt weapon, the skill [Blunt Weapon Mastery] has been created!**

 **Blunt Weapon Mastery** **(Passive): LV:1 EXP: 17.37%: The art of wielding a weapon comes naturally to some, but most spend their entire lives mastering a single weapon.**

 **\+ 10% damage when using Blunt Weapons**

 **+5% Crit Chance when using Blunt Weapons**

 **-10% Durability degradation on all Blunt Weapons**

He smiled and was about to head into the TV, when Chie showed up, panting. She looked up at the two teenage boys. "You… you guys can't be serious! I can't let you do this!"

Yosuke shook his head with a sigh. "I know that you won't Chie, but I'm asking you to look the other way for once and hold onto this." He held the rope out to her. "You're our lifeline. If anything goes wrong in there, I'll tug on the rope and you'll pull us out of there. Okay?"

Chie looked like she had so many questions, and concerns, and complaints, but she just settled for a reluctant nod as she grabbed the coiled up rope.

Yosuke smiled. "Thank you." He then turned around and started to walk towards the TV with Yu. "Well, are you ready?"

Yu looked at Yosuke. "Are you sure about this?"

"Positive."

Yu nodded and stuck his hand through the TV. When he was about to step through, Chie voiced her concerns again.

"Please be careful in there! If Saki really did die there, then… so could you two!"

Yu looked back at Chie. "We'll be fine Chie. Don't worry so much, okay?" He let Yosuke jump into the TV and he smiled at Chie before stepping into it as well. The two began to fall through the countless TV screens again, and Yu looked over at Yosuke. He saw… a problem. "Ummm… Yosuke? The rope's been cut."

Yosuke looked up at where the rope should be. "What're you talking… about…?! OH GOD DAMMIT!" The two landed on the ground, and while Yu rolled perfectly again, Yosuke… landed on his ass. Again.

Yu sighed as he dusted himself off. He then walked over to Yosuke and helped him up.

Yosuke groaned in pain. "Thanks… hey, we're in the same place as before…does that mean that we'll see that bear here again?"

Yu shrugged and began to look around. Yosuke was right, they are in the same area as they were before, it was just a little more foggy.

 **You have entered the Realm of Truth and Desires!**

 **While you are in here, you will be blinded by the fog of the mind, and will grow incrementally more exhausted as time goes by. The exhaustion effect is negated by [Gamer's Body]**

"Well, we're definitely in the TV world again…" Yu willed away the window and then heard a squeaking noise behind him.

"Y-You guys came back…Why'd you come back?" Teddie walked up to the two with a bewildered expression on his face.

Yu smiled as he turned around. "Hey Teddie. I know that this looks bad, bu-"

"Oh… I know what's going on here! You two are the ones that've been throwing people in here! I'll stop you right here!" He tried to growl menacingly, but it was… actually really adorable.

Yosuke yelled at Teddie. "What the hell did you just say?!"

"This world has been getting more and more messed up, and this is the second time you two came in here! And I don't think that anyone forced you in… that make you two the most suspicious! That means that you two have been throwing people in here!" He tried to roar this time, but is was still really funny.

Yu sighed. "Ted, use your brain. If we were the ones throwing people in here, then why would would we risk coming back?"

Teddie hummed in thought. "That's true… but you're still the most suspicious!"

Yosuke yelled at the bear again. "You know that if someone was thrown in here, they might die if they can't get out! Who would do such a-" He paused in thought, then had a look of grim realization. "Wait… All this talk about someone throwing people in here… does he mean Senpai and Ms. Yamano? Did that… 'someone' throw those two in here…?" He looked over at Yu. "W-What do you think?"

Yu nodded. "That has to be it. There's no way that they could've fallen in by accident. We tested that. That means that there's someone out there that… has the same power as me…" ' _I just hope to god it's just the one where I can open the TV…'_

Yosuke shuddered at the thought. "Yeah… I agree. So…" He turned back to Teddie. "Let's assume that he's telling the truth… Could that mean that someone's throwing people in here, intending to kill them…? If… if that's the case…"

Teddie stomped his foot… paw… thing on the ground. "What're you two mumbling about?! Why'd you come back here in the first place?! It's a one-way door! You can't get out once you come in! I had to make an exit last time, remember?!"

Yosuke looked down at his rope and sighed. "You had better let us out when we're done investigating here…"

Teddie growled again. "I'm the one who wants to investigate! I've lived here for a looong time, and it's never been as noisy as it is now! Do you have proof?! Proof that you're not throwing anyone in here?!"

Yu sighed. "No, we don't. But if you think for a moment, if we WERE the ones throwing people in here, and we KNOW that it's a one way door, why would we risk coming back here? And… if we were the person messing up your world, I doubt that we would've been sloppy enough to fall in her in the first place."

Teddie looked at his feet-paws and then groaned. "That isn't enough to convince me!"

' _Well, Wisdom of 1 is coming into play now.'_ "Well, there's also the fact that if I wanted to bring people in here to kill them, I have had plenty of chances. And was there a hint of my scent in either of the two areas once the people were thrown in?"

Teddie shook his head. "Well… no… bu-"

"So that means that I didn't throw them in. And Yosuke can't. I'm the only one besides the killer who can make an entrance into here. And I know that THAT really is suspicious, but if I wanted people dead, then why would I have sacrificed myself so you guys could escape?"

Teddie groaned, then sighed. "Alright… I believe you. But you have to promise me something."

Yosuke sighed. "What is it…?"

Teddie suddenly looked pitiful. "I don't want my world to be all messed up like this… If you're not the ones doing this, find the guys who are. Please… I just want to live in peace…"

 **!Quest Alert!**

 **Awakening of the Magician**

 **Objective 1: Agree to assist Tedde**

 **Objective 2: Discover the area where Saki Konishi died**

 **Objective 3: Defeat ?**

 **Reward: 3000 EXP, Chain Quest Unlocked, [Garu] Skill book**

 **[This quest cannot be denied]**

Yu thought for a moment and then remembered what Igor and Margeret said to him.

" _In the coming days, you will enter a contract of some sort, after which, you will return here. The coming year is a turning point in your destiny…"_

" _If you fail to complete whatever task it is that brought you to us, your future will be forever lost."_

Yu nodded and placed a hand on Teddie's shoulder… haunch… whatever it was. "Teddie… The whole reason we're here is to find answers. If those answers lead to the person behind this, then I'll help however I can."

Teddie sniffled. "R-Really…?

"Really. I promise that I'll do whatever I can to help you Teddie." Yu stood up straight and then looked over at the path they didn't take last time. "So, Yosuke, what do you say we take the road less traveled this time and head to the growling path… that's still growling."

Yosuke shook his head. "Okay, can we back up for a minute?" He pointed at Teddie. "What is that thing and how do you know it's name?!"

Yu looked back at Yosuke. "Oh, he told me after he pushed you guys out of here. And… I think that he's a bear…? Not sure about that." He looked at Teddie. "ARE you a bear?"

Teddie nodded and tried to flex. "Yep! The most manly bear there is!"

Yosuke thought for a moment. "Well… You have human hands and feet… so technically, you really are the manliest bear there is, considering that you can walk, talk, and fight."

Teddie shook his head. "Nope! I can't fight! I got no muscles! But, I can provide tact…tacta-…"

"Tactical?"

"Yeah! That! I can provide tactical and moral support!"

Yosuke sighed again. "Well, we have weapons… but they're mostly for show… But before we go look, we need to figure out what's going on here."

Yu nodded and sat down. "So, the fog has appeared twice in the past week, and every time the fog appeared, a dead body popped up."

Teddie tilted his head, which was kinda his whole body since he has no neck. He fell onto his side. "Dead body…? Whenever the fog appears? Well, I know that whenever it's foggy on your side, the fog lifts here. That's when the Shadows get violent!"

Yosuke sat down as well. "Okay… but what the hell are Shadows?"

Teddie shrugged. "Shadows are Shadows. I don't know anything else but that."

Yu closed his eyes. "Okay, so… people are being thrown in here, and they go missing in our world. Then they're killed by these Shadows whenever the fog lifts. And once they die, they're sent back to our world…? That makes no sense. Why would their bodies leave this world…?" ' _Well, it's called the realm of Truth and Desires, so… maybe because they're dead, they have no more desires, so they don't belong here anymore once their dead, and expelled from this world in a random location.'_

Teddie shrugged. "I dunno."

Yosuke deadpanned. "You're real helpful Ted…"

Yu sighed. "Well, until we have more ideas or evidence, we know two things. That someone else who has the same power as I do are throwing people in here, and that these Shadows are killing them on foggy days in our world… We need to figure out the killer's motive, and his way of execution…"

Yosuke looked over at Yu wryly. "You sure know a lot about this…"

Yu shrugged. "I used to watch a lot of crime shows. Didn't have much to do in the city."

Teddie jumped up with a smile. "Well, until you guys find this 'killer' of yours…" Teddie somehow twisted around and pulled two pairs of glasses out of nowhere. "Ta-da! Introducing, the 'Teddie Glasses'!"

'… _What is it with people pulling things out of nowhere today?_ _ **Observe**_ '

 **Teddie Glasses**

 **Special glasses the mysterious creature Teddie created!**

 **Allows you to see through the fog of the mind, as well as prevents the exhausting effect of this world.**

Yu took the black pair of glasses and he put them on. "Woah… Yosuke, put them on."

Yosuke sighed and grabbed the orange pair of glasses that Teddie had. He put them on and fell back in surprise. "Holy-! What are these things?! It's like the fog doesn't exist!"

Yu stood up and then looked over at the remaining path. "So, now that we have some semblance of a theory, let's actually start our investigation."

* * *

After a good 15 or 20 minutes of walking, the group of three ended up in a… weird, green lit shopping district that had those red spirals instead of doorways. They had chatted a bit along the way, Teddie learned Yosuke's name after saying wrong ten times in a row, probably just to piss them off.

Yosuke looked around, really confused. "What is this place…? It looks just like the shopping district…" He held his head and shook it violently. "What the hell is going on here?!"

Teddie shrugged. "I don't know… but some weird places have been popping up lately. Things are getting so tangled… I don't know what to do…"

Yosuke turned around and then glowered at Teddie. "By the way… why are you standing so far away from us…?"

Teddie waved his hands in front of him. "D-Don't get the wrong idea! I-I can't stand too close to you two! If we got in a fight, then I'd just get in the way!"

Yu looked up at the sky, really confused why the area was green, because the sky was spiraling black and red like the doorways. He slowly walked forward and then readied his golf club, just in case any of those Shadows showed up. He had to protect them. Teddie can't fight, and he was pretty sure that Yosuke couldn't either. "So, Teddie, is this where Saki-senpai fell?"

Teddie shrugged. "I don't know who this 'Saki-senpai' is, but I do know that a person came in here!"

Yosuke looked even more confused as time went on. "Man… they really went all out on this… but of all parts of town, why'd they replicate this one?"

Teddie shrugged. "I dunno. This is reality for the one who's in here."

"Hana-chan…"

Yosuke's eyes widened. "That was Senpai!" He ran forward, past the both of them.

"Yosuke wait!" Yu reached out to him, then groaned. "Let's go Teddie!" He ran after Yosuke, with Teddie's squeaky feet squeaking behind him as they chased the lovelorn kid. They soon wound up in front of a liquor store.

Teddie began to cower in fear. "S-Shadows! They're here…!"

 **Bloodlust Detected**

 **10 ft in front of you**

Yu scowled and gripped his golf club harder. He watched as two black blobs came out of the red and black spiral doorway. They had the same masks as those Hableries. The exact same, actually.

Yosuke fell back as the black masked blobs rushed towards them. "What are those things?!"

Teddie whimpered.

Yu scowled. "Those are Shadows. These are the things that killed Senpai and Yamano." He walked towards them as they rose into the air. The Shadows seemed to form a ball with the masks sticking out of them.

 **Slipping Hablerie**

Yu yelled as he hit one into the ground with little difficulty. He then hit the other one to the side with no remorse. It didn't take out a lot of their HP, but it felt kinda good. Yu groaned and then decided that he wanted to end this quickly. "Persona." He activated **[Summon Persona]** and the entire area lit up as blue flames came forth from behind Yu. He smirked and then was hit in the chest by a third one.

 **HP: 258/300**

" _Stay calm and listen."_

Yu looked behind him to see Teddie staring at him.

" _All Shadows have strengths and weaknesses. These ones are weak to Lightning, so if you have anything that involves Lightning, use it."_

Yu nodded and used Izanagi to launch him into the air. His persona shattered then reformed behind him, allowing Yu to land on his shoulder. Yu closed his eyes and thought about how to use his lightning affinity. After a few seconds, his thoughts were interrupted and he was forced to go back onto the ground. He dispelled Izanagi and used **[Zio]** on his golf club, though instead of it being a short burst of power, he wanted it to be a constant stream of power.

 **A special skill has been created through a special action!  
Though empowering your weapon through utilizing the elements, the skill [Elemental Enhancement] has been created!**

 **Elemental Enhancement** **(Active): LV:1 EXP: 0.10% SP cost: 10 SP per minute**

 **You are close to the elements, and they have allowed you to infuse their essence into objects.**

 **Grants an element to your weapon or armor for a time.**

 **Elements available: Lightning**

His golf club sparked with electricity after a moment and he smiled. He didn't have long to celebrate, however, as a fourth Hablerie rushed him. He slid under the strike and hit the thing as hard as he could, sending an electrical shock through it, seemingly doing more damage to it. But it wasn't enough. He kept the skill up and then summoned Izanagi again. His Persona's blade sparked as well. Yu stood still as Izanagi rushed into the slowly growing crowd. He sliced through one of them, killing it instantly.

" _Shadows also have weak points on their bodies as well. This type of Shadow's weakness is their mask!"_

"Thanks Teddie!" Yu jumped over another one and hit it really hard on the mask, sending a violent shock through the ball, and it slumped over.

 **[Blunt Weapon Mastery] has gained a level**

He hit it again on the same part of its body and it disintegrated into… something. He looked over at Izanagi, who kept getting hit. Yu dispelled Izanagi and then looked over at his HP.

 **HP: 138/300**

' _So, when Izanagi gets hit, I take the damage, but after a certain amount of damage taken, he shatters, making me pay the full SP cost of keeping him active for a minute._

 **[Elemental Enhancement] has gained a level.**

The sparks on the golf club became stronger and Yu blocked the tongue of the Hablerie, shocking it's innards, doing critical damage and stunning it. He hit the Shadow's mask as he briskly walked towards the remaining Shadows. They shuddered as he walked towards them, and they rushed at him. Yu hit one to the side and dodged out of the way of another one, slamming the club into its mask as it passed him, dealing a fatal blow.

 **Danger detected!**

 **Right behind you!**

Yu smirked and held the club behind his back, and as soon as the Hablerie's tongue touched his weapon, it was on the ground. He looked down at it and quickly finished it off.

 **You have gained… 160 EXP**

Yu panted lightly as the last Shadow dissolved into nothing. He shut off **[Elemental Enhancement]** and he sighed. "Thank's for the help Teddie. Probably would've gotten seriously hurt there." He dusted off his clothes and walked back over to the two spectators. "We should keep going. It's not safe here."

Yosuke stared at Yu. "W-What was that?! Did I… hear you say 'Persona'?! What was it- I-I mean, what did you do?!" He then smiled a tiny bit, kinda hopeful. "Hey, you think that I could do it too?"

Teddie walked up to Yu, a glimmer of worship in his eyes. "That was amazing Sensei! I am one impressed bear!"

Both Yu and Yosuke stared at Teddie. "…Sensei?"

Teddie ignored them. "I can't believe that you were hiding such an amazing power! No wonder the Shadows are afraid of you! This is amazing!" He turned to Yosuke. "Don't you think so Yosuke?"

Yosuke scowled and then pushed Teddie hard, causing him to pivot on his head and flip back onto his feet. "Dude! You call him 'Sensei' but don't show me any respect?!"

"Hana-chan…"

Yosuke looked towards where Saki's voice came from and saw the red and black doorway. "I'm coming Saki!" He ran forward and phased through the red and black stuff.

Yu groaned in frustration and walked towards the doorway, but paused when he heard voices echoing from somewhere.

" _ **I wish Junes would just go under."**_

" _ **It's all that store's fault!"**_

Yu looked around, trying to find out where the voices were coming from. "What is this?"

" _ **Oh, I heard that Konishi-san's daughter is working there."**_

" _ **Oh my… how could she, with the family business suffering like it is…?"**_

" _ **I heard their sales have gone downhill**_ _ **because**_ _**of Junes!"**_

" _ **That poor father… to have his own daughter working for the enemy…"**_

" _ **What a troublesome child…"**_

Yu frowned. "Hey… Teddie, you said that this place is reality for the people who come in here, right?"

Teddie nodded.

"So… that would mean that this was Saki-senpai, who is the person who fell in here recently, that would mean that this was her reality when she fell in here, right?"

Teddie shrugged. "I only know what goes on over here… but I think so…"

Yu nodded and looked around to see if there were any more Shadows appearing before touching the doorway, causing the spiraling door to fade. Him and Teddie ran into the store and saw Yosuke looking up at the ceiling, mesmerized by something.

" _ **Saki! How many times do I have to tell you!?"**_

Yosuke seemed shocked. "I-Is this… Senpai's dad?"

" _ **You know what the neighbors say about you, right?! Aren't you ashamed of yourself?! You're the eldest daughter of a family that's owned this store for generations! Is it the money?! Or-or did you meet some guy there?! Just tell me why you have to work THERE of all places!"**_

Yosuke looked down at the ground. "I… I can't believe this… She always looked like she had so much fun at work… She never said anything like this to me…" He suddenly became pissed off. "You're telling me that THIS is how she saw thi-" He looked over at the desk and then noticed something of interest. He ran over to them, with Yu and Teddie following close behind. "These photos… hey…" He picked up a destroyed Polaroid picture on the desk. "This is the picture that we took with the other part-timers at Junes…But w-why is it cut up like this…?" It was a picture of Saki, with Yosuke standing next to her. The other ones, if there were any, were cut out."

"I… never had the chance to say it…" Saki's voice echoed from everywhere.

Yosuke looked up again. "S-Senpai… That's her voice…"

"I always wanted to tell Hana-chan…"

Yosuke started to smile slightly. "S-She wanted to tell me something…"

"That he was a real pain in the ass!"

"W-What?!" Yosuke suddenly looked pained beyond belief.

"I was nice to him just because he was the store manager's son, that's all! But he takes it the wrong way and gets all enthusiastic… what a dip…"

"P-Pain… In the ass…?"

"Who cares about Junes anyways?! Because of that fucking store, our business is ruined, my parents hate me, the neighbors talk behind my back…"

Yu gritted his teeth as he forced his own memories away.

"I just wish everything would fucking disappear…"

Yosuke looked back at the picture. "T-That's a lie… It's all a lie… Senpai's not like that…!"

A mocking voice called out from their right. " _ **It's…"**_ The voice sniffled. " _ **So sad… I feel sooo sorry for myself… boo hoo…!"**_

The three turned to the right and saw Yosuke leaning up against a pillar of kegs. He had glowing yellow eyes and this weird fog around him.

" _ **Actually, I'm the one who thinks everything's a pain in the ass!"**_ Yosuke laughed as he stood up straight.

Yu looked at the new Yosuke and looked at his name.

 **The Winds of Stagnation**

 **Shadow Yosuke**

 **LV: 4**

Teddie looked in between the two mostly identical people. "What the… Two Yosuke's…?"

Yosuke ran over to his Shadow. "W-Who the hell are you?! I-I wouldn't think that!"

Shadow Yosuke laughed mockingly. " _ **Yeah right, how long are you gonna keep deluding yourself?"**_ Shadow Yosuke smirked. " _ **Screw the shopping district, and Junes too! The hell with it all! You're sick of everything… especially living out in the sticks!"**_

Yosuke took a nervous step back. "W-What are you saying…? T-That's not true at all… I don't… I don't think that…"

Shadow Yosuke smiled in victory. " _ **You always act so carefree, and happy-go-lucky, 'cause you're so terrified of being alone! The more the merrier right? You've gotta be surrounded by people to block out the pain of isolation!"**_ He then leaned in closer and looked over at Yu. " _ **And what's this crock of shit about checking this place out for Saki's sake? Hah! I know the real reason why you came snooping…"**_

Yosuke shook his head in denial. "S-Stop it…!"

Shadow Yosuke started laughing again. " _ **Why so panicked? I thought that I was just spouting bullshit! Or maybe… I DO know everything you're thinking! Why's that…?"**_ He gave Yosuke a second to think. " _ **Because… I AM you!"**_ He chuckled. " _ **You just came because it sounded like a good time! What else is there to do in this shithole?!"**_ The Shadow adopted a thinking pose. " _ **A world inside the TV… now THAT'S exciting! You didn't have a single other reason for coming here, did you?!"**_

Yosuke looked completely defeated as he looked down at his feet. "That's not true… stop it…just stop…"

" _ **You're just trying to act like a big shot… If all went well, hey, maybe you could even be a hero! And that Saki you're so sweet on, her death was the PERFECT excuse!"**_ Shadow Yosuke looked at Yu again. " _ **But then HE had to come along and steal your thunder. Showing you up with that awesome power of his, as long as he's around, you'll never be the hero! You'll always be second fiddle, and he'll always take people away from you! Just like your dad did when he brought you here in the first place! Really, it's all his fault that you're even like this anyways…"**_

Yu looked over at Yosuke, who was trembling from rage.

Yosuke looked at his Shadow. "That's not true! What the hell are you?! WHO the hell are you?!"

Shadow Yosuke chuckled. " _ **I already told ya… I'm you! Your Shadow. There's NOTHING that I don't know about you."**_

Yosuke shook his head again. "No! Screw that! I don't know you!" He looked back up at his Shadow and yelled in his face. "You can't be me, you son of a bitch!"

Shadow Yosuke began to laugh hysterically. " _ **That's right! Say it again!"**_

Yosuke hesitated for a moment, but then stared into his Shadow's glowing eyes. "You're not me. You're nothing like me!"

Shadow Yosuke smirked. " _ **That's right… I am me now. I'm not you anymore, see?!"**_ A black fog surrounded him and black, foggy tendrils shot from the rapidly glowing silhouette.

Yu looked over at Yosuke, and then ran over to catch him as he fainted. "Teddie! Get Yosuke to safety!"

Teddie ran over to to the two and struggled to drag Yosuke away from the area.

Yu turned back to the growing figure and the black fog around the Shadow was sent after him in a violent gust. He summoned his Persona just so he could stand his ground. He dispelled Izanagi and saw a giant frog with a giant, golden, vicious grin with the upper torso of a humanoid figure. The humanoid figure was purely black with golden, metal stars bolted to where its eyes should be. Yu felt fear begin to well up in him, before **[Gamer's Mind]** made him much more calm than any human being should be in a situation like this.

" _ **I am a Shadow… the TRUE self… I'll crush anything that bores me… starting with YOU!"**_ Shadow Yosuke lept into the air and when he landed, a wall of wind emanated from him and tore down the real walls, revealing a battlefield.

Yu gritted his teeth and **Observed** the Shadow.

 **The Winds of Stagnation**

 **Shadow Yosuke**

 **HP: 300/300**

 **SP: 365/375**

 **STR: 15**

 **VIT: 12**

 **DEX: 28**

 **INT: 15**

 **WIS: 9**

 **LUK: 15**

' _His stats are triple what Yosuke's are, and he's fast, except for his DEX, which is quadruple. So he's fast. Despite his size, he'll be much faster than me. So I'll have to keep him down.'_ "Teddie! Give me an analysis!" Yu summoned Izanagi and then activated **[Elemental Enhancement]** to give himself an edge. He had Izanagi rush the giant and distract him as he ran around, striking the legs of the frog. He barely did any damage to it, but he wanted to whittle it down and survive if he could.

Shadow Yosuke laughed maniacally as he gripped Izanagi. " _ **How long can you survive this!?"**_ He then threw the Persona at Yu, who dispelled Izanagi before he could be pinned by the Persona. He summoned Izanagi again and gritted his teeth as a blue film overlapped the Naginata.

 **HP: 295/300**

Izanagi rushed Shadow Yosuke and struck at him multiple times win quick succession.

 **HP: 275/300**

 **[Cleave] has gained a level!**

Yu winced slightly as he watched his HP drain.

 **HP: 155/300**

He shook off the pain and pulled one of those items from his **Inventory** and consumed it.

 **HP: 200/300**

 **HP: 196/300**

 **HP: 192/300**

" _Sensei! I got his weaknesses! You need to strike it with Lightning and on it's stomach!"_

Yu nodded at Teddie and and ran behind the giant frog while Izanagi distracted it. He was really wishing that he had a bladed weapon right now, though he still struck once, dealing critical damage. He then smirked as he fired a **[Zio]** from his left hand straight up at Shadow Yosuke, dealing critical damage and stunning him.

 **SP: 255/275**

 **[Zio] has gained a level!**

Yu re-summoned Izanagi to his side and activated **[Cleave]** again.

 **HP: 137/300**

He then snapped and had Izanagi stab up into the frog's stomach a slice down the length of the Shadow, dealing massive amounts of damage to both parties. Turns out **[Cleave]** takes HP per second of damage given as well.

 **HP: 17/300**

Yu dispelled Izanagi and rolled out from under Shadow Yosuke and **Observed** him again.

 **HP: 1/300**

Yu ran over to Teddie watched Shadow Yosuke sway a bit, then collapse, only to stand again. He wanted to show mercy, but… well, it's not a person, right? So he held his hand out towards the dying monster and finished it off with one last **[Zio]**. He watched it fall down as red and black fog spilled from the slice Izanagi had made like it was blood. The body of Shadow Yosuke twitched slightly as its body slowly began to melt into red and black ooze. Aster said ooze faded away, Shadow Yosuke was laying there as Yosuke.

Yosuke groaned as he woke up. He stared at the sky as he laid down. "I… I…"

Yu ran over to Yosuke with Teddie following behind. "Yosuke! Are you okay?!" He helped Yosuke to stand up.

Yosuke nodded. "Y-Yeah… I think so…What… What happened…?" He turned around and saw his Shadow staring at him.

"…"

Yosuke shook his head. "You… You can't be me…"

Teddie walked up to Yosuke and patted his back. "That thing came from you Yosuke…You have to admit it… or it'll go berserk again…"

Yosuke looked down at the ground.

Yu sighed. "Look, Yosuke… everyone has a side like that. It's always hard to accept that it exists, and even harder to accept that it's a part of you."

" _You little bastard! Making me look bad in front of your teachers! Get the hell out of my sight! I never want to see you again!"_

"But once you do, it'll feel like all the weight that you've been carrying your entire life will go away. That's your Shadow. And… you need to accept that… But your Shadow isn't just you. You're still yourself. He's just a part of you."

 **For helping your friend through his mental crisis, you have gained + 2 INT and 1 WIS!**

Yosuke turned around and looked at Yu. "Myself huh…?" He then looked back down at the ground. "Dammit… It hurts to face yourself." He took a deep breath then turned back to his Shadow. He walked towards the clone of himself. "I… I knew that you weren't lying… But… I was so ashamed of myself, that I… I didn't want to admit it…You… You're me… and… and I'm you. Heh. When you get down to it, all of this is me."

Shadow Yosuke looked shocked, then nodded with a soft smile, his eyes slowly beginning to mirror Yosuke's as the weird fog around it was replaced with soft blue light. Soon the clone of Yosuke faded and a persona rose from the light.

 **Calm Before the Storm**

 **Jiraiya**

Jiraiya looked down at Yosuke and nodded. He then shattered and the light faded, leaving behind a card that slowly spun down in front of Yosuke, before shattering into hundreds of shards. Those shards spun around and then flowed into Yosuke, knocking him back slightly.

Yosuke held a hand over where the shards entered his soul. "This… is my Persona…?" He turned back to Yu and nearly collapsed again. Instead, Yu caught him and helped him to stand. "Thanks… You know…? When we heard Senpai's voice… I really thought that she was calling to me… And when she said all those things… I thought that those were things that she had hidden deep down inside of her…" He chuckled bitterly. "'He was a real pain in the ass' huh…? Heh… what a way to find out… Geez… this is so embarrassing…" He looked up at Yu. "If you weren't here… I don't know what would've happened… Thanks man…" Yosuke then looked at Teddie. "Hey, Teddie. Do you think that Saki-senpai could've been attacked by her other self here…? Like how it just happened to me?"

Teddie nodded. "I think so. The Shadows here were originally born from the humans on your side. Sometimes the fog clears here, and then they go berserk. And… you saw what happens next. A strong willed Shadow draws others to it, and the big mass of Shadows kills the host."

Yosuke nodded a bit. "So… that's why people die on foggy days in our world…" He then groaned as his eyes slowly closed.

Teddie looked worried, which was somehow cute on him. "Yosuke's pretty worn out… we need to get him out of her as soon as we can. This world isn't meant for humans… it's not safe for you guys…"

' _Not safe for humans… but I'm not affected by this world… I know that I'm still human… but… it's worth looking into.'_

 **!Quest Complete!**

 **Awakening of the Magician**

 **Objective 1: Agree to assist Tedde**

 **Objective 2: Discover the area where Saki Konishi died**

 **Objective 3: Defeat ?**

 **Reward: 3000 EXP, Chain Quest Unlocked, [Garu] Skill book**

Yu flinched when the quest alert popped up, and he expected to see the book appear in his hands, but nothing happened, so he assumed that items from quest rewards go directly into his **Inventory**. He slowly followed Teddie back to the entrance, being careful not to rush Yosuke. They soon stood in front of a stack of TVs.

 **You have returned to the entrance of the dungeon! All forms of recovery are accelerated slightly.**

Yu looked back at Teddie who sighed.

"I'll be waiting for you here."

Yu smiled reassuringly. "I'll come and visit as much as I can Teddie. It must get really lonely here, hiding from Shadows and just… waiting." He helped Yosuke through the exit and then waved at Teddie as he tried to look decent by backing into the exit, but he tripped and fell through the exit.

* * *

* 1000 yen is 8.92 in American dollars

** Kamiyonanayo: The seven generations of gods that emerged after the formation of heaven and earth.

*** Ame-no-nuboko: The spear that Izanagi and Izanami wielded to raise the first land mass.

 **So, this was actually kinda hell to write, but I refused to wait another month like the last time, so, here we are. And I know the amount of crap I'm going to get for putting Dante in this because he isn't in Persona. Let me explain the loopholes that I'm going to use to bring him into this. Dante was a boss fight in the second Shin Megami Tensei game, Nocturne. Technically, the persona franchise stemmed from those games, so I'm using that branching connection to bring him into this. And as for why Shadow Yosuke was a really easy boss fight for Yu is because he used his Persona as a distraction while he came up with a plan. That's the best I got right now, and I may have a better explanation/excuse next chapter. So, if you like the story, follow it if you'd like, leave a review and I'll try to answer anything you ask, and I'll see you next time!**


	5. Protection and Assassination

**Hey there everyone! So, first of all, thank you for all of the support that you have given me! It's one of the reasons that I keep writing this. And secondly, we passed 3000 views when Chapter 4 was posted! Honestly, I had no idea that people looked through the Persona Crossover section enough to even get that many. Thank you for proving me wrong! And third, it's time for me to respond to some reviews!**

 **\- blarg7865: While I can't answer some of these, I can tell you that Yu WILL eventually obtain an elemental. I'm just still debating on how I would do that. He will also buy the equipment for the Seekers of Truth from Deidara. He, however, will most likely get his gear from the Abyss website. And as for Mara… well, if you're talking about the Hindu goddess, then whoever designed that persona would probably be dead. But I'm fairly sure that the Persona Mara is more oriented towards the demon in Buddhism, who is a demon of seduction. So they had some liberties. Though I think that the… phallic… appearance of Mara is a little… much… It's a dick with tentacles. You'd also be a little peeved if they named that THING after you. Needless to say, Yu will not be using Mara.**

 **\- Selias: I believe that you misinterpreted what I meant by Yu's confusion. If it was to him reacting to Izanagi's name, then here is my excuse. If you have no real idea of what a persona is, you'd grasp for answers, anything that fits in any way until you get the real explanation. But if it was to Izanagi being real, then… Well, it's kinda hard to believe that gods physically exist, instead of just spiritually or as an idea. And I'm sorry if I've just offended any heavily devout people, don't take this as bashing on religion. I just don't have on opinion on it either way.**

 **\- reydrago: I know that you didn't ask a question, but I would like to thank you for returning! And… well, the Heaven dungeon has to happen. I forgot about that, so I'll just have to jump through a bunch of loopholes to be able to do it.**

 **And that's it for the questions! And I just reread the previous version of this, and I realized how much bullshittery was in there just to make Yu overpowered. Can't have that, so if that starts to happen way too fast, let me know and I'll find some way to nerf whatever it is. So enjoy that chapter, and I'll talk to you all at the end! Oh, one last thing. The Gamer comic and the Wiki call Lolikano's Champion two different things. I used the Wiki. His name is actually Horpitia Aholting, but I'll still be calling him Dylan because that name is too long and it doesn't have a short version to it.**

* * *

"Speech"

' _Thought'_

" _Telepathy"_

" _ **Shadows"**_

 **Windows/Skills**

* * *

 **Ark 1: Jester's Folly: Chapter 5: Protection and Assassination**

Mitsuru tapped her fingers on her chair as she waited for someone to show up for a meeting that she had set up last night. She was getting very… very impatient. "Honestly… that woman is older than me, and yet she still acts like a child…" Just then, a knocking was heard from the window. Mitsuru sighed. "Finally." She looked out the window to see a child in witches clothing riding a broom. With a nearly naked man behind her. The man wore a wolf pelt as headgear, which somehow overshadowed his eyes. Mitsuru opened the window and then stared the woman in the eyes. "You two are late."

The girl floated in on her broom, yawning. "Sorry Mitsu~ But it takes a while to fly all the way from Europe to meet you in the middle of nowhere. In Japan."

Mitsuru groaned as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "Let's… just get down to business. I have a job for the two of you."

The man looked at Mitsuru as he hopped off of the broom. "How much?"

"Ten thousand pounds.*"

The witch's eyes turned to dollar signs somehow. "We'll take it! What kind of job is it?"

"Assassination."

The witch clapped giddily. "Yay! So, who do we have to kill?"

Mitsuru pulled two pictures out of her jacket. "These two. Haruto and Sana Seta."

The man took the photos and then nodded. "Easy. We find."

The witch hummed curiously. "Not to pry, but why is it that you want these two dead?"

Mitsuru stared into her eyes. "Because… recent events have revealed their true nature and they need to be terminated."

"Any other reason Mitsu~?"

Mitsuru sighed. "One of my newer employees was the one who… brought this to my attention. I simply told him that I'd take care of it. I'd rather the situation be taken care of permanently."

The witch nodded. "Got it! We'll make it like they never existed!"

"We. Slaughter."

Mitsuru smirked. "I expect nothing less from The Witch of Slaughter and her Grand Champion."

* * *

Dante tapped his foot impatiently. "Dammit Trish, pick up." He held his flip phone to his ear, as he yawned. He picked at his free ear a bit when Trish finally picked up her phone. "Finally."

"Dante! Where the hell are you?!"

"Japan. In a tiny town called Inaba. And before you ask, no, I'm not just sitting on my ass. I'm actually on a job."

A groan was heard over the phone. "What kind of job?"

"Protection detail."

A louder groan was heard. "Dante…"

"Woah hey, calm down Trish. It's not like the last one with Patty, okay? This time it's… well, it's another little girl-"

"Dante!"

"Calm the hell down Trish! This one wasn't given to me by her dad or anything. It was by her… brother… or cousin or something like that. And to top it off, the kid is a sprouting badass."

Trish seemed like she was going to saw something, but then sighed. "What kind of badass are we talking about? The one we recruit or the one we kill?"

"Dunno yet. But he has something like Nero's Devil Trigger. Speaking of, I wonder how the kid's doing with that girlfriend of his…"

Trish groaned again. It was like she was working with a child. "Dante, the kid. What are his powers?"

"Well, there's the Devil Trigger thing, never thanked you for calling it that, and he can shoot lightning from his arm. And he can make his weapons glow. I think that they actually got stronger when they glow…"

Trish took a deep breath, then sighed again. "Okay, so we got an electrified kid who doesn't know what he's in for?"

Dante laughed at that. "He actually seemed like he knew what he was doing. Well, he knew what the demons were anyways. And that he had to swing his sword at them. Which I broke."

"You broke his weapon?!"

"It was a piece of shit Trish! It was one of those swords that you buy at a supermarket! He actually got it from the store! And he stole it Trish! I'm telling you, if he can kill demons with that shitty sword, imagine what he could do with a real one!"

Trish rubbed her eyes. "I'll have to talk to Lady. And you may need to add a teaching job if you're going to stay there for a while."

Dante shrugged. Not that Trish could see it. "Whatever. Just make sure that you rake in some cash while I'm gone."

"Who do you think I am? You?"

Dante winced as he glanced to his right. "That stings Trish. Anyways. I'll talk to ya later. I got a job to do." He hung up and put his phone away. He crouched down and watched a little girl with brown pigtails walk out of the elementary school. "I'm gonna be so bored…" He pulled out Ebony and shot a silenced shot behind him, killing a demon instantly. He then pulled out Ivory and gazed at the, "At least I got you two ladies to keep me company."

* * *

Yu and Yosuke fell through the TV, Yosuke on his face, and Yu on his ass. He now knew what it was like to be Yosuke. "Gah… That stings…" He then looked up to see Chie on the ground, covering her mouth and her eyes watering.

"Y-You guys c-came b-back…!"

Yu nodded and helped Chie up before slowly helping Yosuke stand. "What happened Chie?"

Chie then threw the coiled up rope in Yu's face. He ducked. "The nerve of you guys! You two are such morons! I can't believe this! You guys suck!" She then looked like she was about to cry again. "T-The rope got cut off…! I had no idea what to do!"

Yu looked at Yosuke. "Well, at least we know now that we can't keep the entrance open with a rope…"

"I was so worried…" SHe then looked back up at Yu with tears streaming down her face. "I mean scared STIFF, DAMMIT!"

Yu held up a hand to quiet Chie before she said something that she didn't mean. "Look, I know that we worried you, and we're sorry. But right now, I need you to help Yosuke get home. I would, but he didn't tell me his address."

Chie blinked and finally saw how bad Yosuke looked. "W-What happened to him…?!"

Yu sighed. "He's just exhausted. He thought that he heard Saki in there, but it wasn't her. He got tired, and hasn't recovered yet. He should be fine once he rests, but…" He shook his head. "Just help him out now, then kick him in the balls for this at school."

Yosuke's knees went together from phantom pain.

Chie nodded, still crying, and she put Yosuke's arms over her shoulder, taking him from Yu. "I hope you know that you two will pay for this later right…?"

Yu nodded. "Yeah. I know. Just get him home." He watched as Che walked Yosuke out of Junes. He sighed and then looked back to the TV. He looked around and then jumped back into it.

* * *

Yu dusted himself off and looked over at Teddie, who was probably shocked to see him again so soon. "Relax Teddie. I just need to go back to that place we found today. I think that there might be something in there to find."

Teddie stared and then nodded. "Do you remember the way?"

Yu nodded as well. "I do, but I'd feel much better having someone from this world come with me." He began to walk towards the twisted Shopping District. He heard squeaking footsteps behind him. "Thanks."

Teddie ran to catch up with Yu.

"So… let me fill you in on what's happening in our world." Yu then rambled out an explanation about the Midnight Channel and bodies showing up when the fog hits. "So, I assume that the picture clears when someone falls inside of here."

Teddie slowly nodded, trying to process all of that. "So… when people in your world come into this one, they show up on this 'Midnight Channel' thingie?"

Yu closed his eyes. "That's what I'm thinking, but it would be better if they didn't fall into here in the first place… Though, if they do, I guess that we'll just have to save them. Though that means that your world will be more messed up." He opened his eyes and then sighed. "I wonder what happens when I clear all the Shadows from a place…"

"It's not possible. There are way too many Shadows for you to be able to kill them all. And I-I don't want this place empty…I just want to live in peace." Teddie sighed and then sat down. "I don't know what to do… I don't want to be alone, but I don't want to be afraid… What should I do Sensei…?"

Yu looked back at Teddie and then crouched down. "I don't really have an answer for you Teddie. I can't tell you that. I suppose that… you'll have to figure that out for yourself. What do you want more? Peace? Or friends? Once you think that you have an answer, ask yourself again, and you'll know what you have to do." ' _Keep saying things that sound right Yu. Just keep saying things that sound right.'_ He stood up again and then looked towards the Twisted Shopping District. "… You know what? I think that this can wait until some other time." He looked at Teddie. "You said that you can't fight, right?"

Teddie nodded.

"Well, why don't we change that?" Yu picked Teddie up and walked back towards the entrance.

"S-Sensei?"

Yu smiled as he kept walking. "If we aren't in here when the fog lifts, then you need to defend yourself if the Shadows find you. So starting today, I want you to train hard. Get stronger. Push yourself to the limit. And past that if you can." After a few moments, they were back at the entrance. He set Teddie down onto his feet. "Okay, first, let's get that costume off of you."

Teddie nodded and reached towards his zipper. "But Sensei, I'm empty inside…"

Yu sighed and then unzipped Teddie's costume for him. He took his head off and then fell back in shock. He wasn't lying. Teddie really is empty. "W-Well, in that case, I'll have to think around this." He handed Teddie his head, which just popped on.

"So, how do I get stronger Sensei?"

Yu stood up and dusted himself off. He removed his shirt and jacket and and then started doing pushups. "Like this Teddie. Try to do as many of these as you can before your arms give out." He took the time to look at his body and saw the slightest bit of muscle definition on him. He wasn't sure, but it's possible that his physical stats determine his physique as well. ' _Let's see… A combination of STR and DEX gives me lean muscle, while VIT improves my muscle definition…? I have no clue. But if Teddie doesn't have a body… then can he even improve his physical stats?'_ Yu stood up and then sighed. "That will help you get stronger, but the more you do it, the better off you'll be. And you know how you run from Shadows sometimes?"

Teddie nodded as he tried to do a pushup. He was really struggling.

"Well, that's also a form of training. Run around as fast as you can and for as long as you can. That's all I have for you. Once I see that you're strong enough, then I'll show you more advanced versions of what you're doing." Yu watched Teddie slowly complete a single pushup, then fall onto the ground. "Can you move your arms Teddie?"

Teddie gave Yu a thumbs-up.

"Then keep going. It might seem like hell, but you'll get stronger. Once you can't feel your arms or your legs, rest up, and either keep going once the pain fades, or wait for me to come back and help you through it." Yu put his shirt back on and then walked towards the exit. "This will also help you to distract yourself if you're lonely. I'll be back tomorrow to check on your progress. Just focus on your exercises and I'll be back before you know it." He looked back and saw that Teddie looked determined as he attempted to do more of the exercises. Yu smiled and stepped through the exit, leaving Teddie to his training.

* * *

The Witch of Slaughter sighed as she flew over the ocean again with her Champion. "Two people… that's all she wants dead, and she's paying us 10,000 pounds? Doesn't this feel off to you Dylan?"

Her Champion, now identified as Dylan, nodded silently.

The Witch groaned. "As usual, you have nothing to say."

Dylan nodded again.

The Witch pulled out a touchscreen phone and checked her bank account. "Well, at least she paid up front… But only two people… either this new employee is really important, or these two are just the scum of the Earth. There are probably worse people in the Abyss, but…" She sighed again. She was bored. "I don't know about this Dylan. Mitsu never hid anything from us before, but it was like she kept something from us back there."

"We take job, we slaughter."

The Witch groaned loudly. "I know…! But this just feels different than the other jobs she's sent us on before! Can you at least agree that she's hiding something?!"

Dylan nodded.

The Witch looked up at him, then sighed as she looked forward. "Nevermind… Let's just do this already."

Dylan nodded.

* * *

Dante watched Nanako from a distance, just eating a slice of pizza. "Jesus… this is so boring… when I took this job, I thought that I'd have a good time, but…" He flicked his wrist and Rebellion stabbed through another Marionette. "It's just another job. Maybe when I see that kid again, I'll take him hunting." He took a drink of his strawberry milkshake and then sighed again. He closed his eyes and then heard the world shift around him. He pointed Ivory in front of him and shot through a demon that tried to kill him. He grabbed Rebellion and opened his eyes to see that he was in a Barrier.

"God dammit… I gotta hurry." He stood up to see a hoard of Sin Scissors and Sin Scythes surrounding a single area. His arms flashed and Artemis appeared in his hands. Dante smirked and pulled the trigger, letting loose a barrage of demonic lasers at the crowd. He then shot the demonic auto-rifle into the air and allowed the lasers to land wherever they landed. He made the rifle disappear and placed Rebellion on his back. About half of them were left. Dante chuckled as he grabbed onto Ebony and Ivory.

"Alright you bastards. Let's dance!" He jumped off of the building and fired the two pistols at the crowd, shattering as many masks as he could. When he landed he stole the scythe of one of the Demons and slashed through the masks of a few demons that had surrounded him. The white haired half-devil rushed the crowd and killed as many as he could before he got to the area the demons were surrounding. It was a tear through the barrier that they could enter through. Dante threw the scythe in a random direction, killing at least thirty of the hoard. He grabbed his twin pistols and began to fire them in any direction but up or down. He fired at the hoard for at least a minute before Ebony and Ivory were empty. He re-holstered them and then summoned Agni and Rudra, who were laughing. "Shut up you two!"

Dante groaned as he smacked the buts of the swords together. He then spun around, creating a large, flaming vortex around him that kept expanding.

The twin blades were laughing their hearts out as they felt their powers being used.

"Shut up!" Dante yelled at the two as he stopped spinning, causing the Twister to become a wall of flames that incinerated anything it touched. The wall stopped expanding and the flames died. Dante looked around to only see a few stragglers left. "If you two keep this up, I'm just going to use Nevan instead of you clowns."

" _Oh~ Would you~~~? I would love it if you'd touch me again Dante~"_

"Or… I'll just use Cerberus." Dante sighed as he reloaded Ebony and Ivory. He then finished off the remaining demons and hopped back up to his building. Dante shattered the barrier as he de-summoned Agni and Rudra and saw that the girl didn't really go anywhere. But he did notice that she was exactly where the tear in the barrier was. "…Huh. This might be fun after all.

* * *

Yu looked at his stat sheet as he walked down the Samegawa floodplain. He had 25 stat points to allocate, but he didn't know where to put them. "Should I even spend them…?" He shook his head and then pulled out his new skill book.

 **You have obtained the skill book: Garu**

 **Would you like to learn this skill?**

 **[YES/NO]**

Yu shrugged and tapped **YES**. The book caught on fire and the ashes of the book became shards that flowed into his head.

 **You have learned the skill: Garu**

 **Garu** **(Active): LV:1 EXP: 0.00% SP cost: 20: Through calling upon the element of wind, the caster may manipulate the wind to the extent of causing harm.**

 **Deals 20 Wind damage to a target.**

Yu stared at the skill. "It's almost a copy of **Zio** , but with wind… Does that mean that there are other versions of this attack as well? Like with fire or water?" He was about to enter a barrier, but then saw Yukiko over to the left, looking at him. He walked towards Yukiko and then sat down. "So… what are you doing out here by yourself?"

Yukiko smiled gently. "Oh, my parents sent me out on an errand. I think that I have to get back soon though."

"Well, that explains why you're wearing a juban** out in the rain." Yu noticed the colors and then smiled. "You look good in it, but red looks better on you."

Yukiko blinked, then looked away, a slight blush on her cheeks. "T-Thank you… only Chie's told me that…" She looked at the ground. "S-So… are you getting used to the town and the school yet…?"

Yu nodded. "Yeah. I really like it here, it's peaceful. Or, I at least think that it's usually peaceful here."

Yukiko smiled again. "Really? B-But it has to be difficult, moving to a place that you know nothing about."

Yu shrugged with his eyes closed. "Not really. It was more difficult living in the city. I mean, even when you know every inch of that place, it doesn't get any easier. At least here no one's waiting around the corner, trying to mug you."

Yukiko looked back up at Yu. "Is that really what it's like in the city?"

Yu chuckled. "No, I'm over exaggerating. It's… very bright there. And it's hard to get any real sleep from all of the sounds of the city. But during the day, it's amazing. Though I still like Inaba better. I might even decide to stay here."

Yukiko seemed shocked. "Really? I was thinking that I'd move away from here and go into the city."

Yu shook his head. "Everyone here probably thinks that this place is boring, and that nothing happens, ever. But if you live in the city for a while, you learn to appreciate the peace and quiet of a town like this." ' _Your plan of saying things that sound good is working Yu. Eventually, you'll know exactly what to say to the people around you.'_

Yukiko nodded and looked at the ground again. "W-Well… I wouldn't know what it's like to transfer to a new school… I've never left Inaba before…" She suddenly looked up again. "O-Oh! Are you and Chie getting along? I always leave early so…"

"Yeah, we're getting along pretty well. Though she's a little hard to keep up with… I really don't know how you do it."

Yukiko laughed a tiny bit. "Yeah, she is a little tough to handle, but you get used to her."

"Isn't it a little exhausting, having her drag you around everywhere?"

Yukiko waved her hands in front of her face. "Oh n-no, it's not like that! She doesn't drag me around."

Yu raised an eyebrow. "Really? She doesn't take you places that you don't want to go to all the time because she never lets you have a say in anything?"

"W-Well…"

Yu sighed as he stood up. "Yukiko, you don't have to mention this to Chie if you think that I'm wrong. But if you think that I'm right, try to get the first word in to see if she'll go where you want to go if you say something first." He looked around and then saw Dante in the distance looking in the opposite direction as he was. It looked like he was doing his job. "I should probably get going though. And you should too." He helped Yukiko up as he didn't see her getting up anytime soon. "Don't you still have to do that errand?"

Yukiko nodded and grabbed her red umbrella. "Yes. I do. Thank you for spending some time with me. You were right, it gets a little boring out here."

Yu watched her walk off and then sighed. He ran over to Dante and then struggled to climb up next to him. "Any problems?"

Dante waved him off. "Nothin' to bad. Just the usual demons showing up because of me." He looked back at Yu. "Say, don't you have to get back to your house? Do your homework? Play a video game?"

Yu groaned. "Shut up." He hopped off of whatever it was he climbed onto and began to walk back to Dojima's house.

Dante smirked as he watched Yu walk away. "Yep. I definitely like him. Might even ask him to join up when he's strong enough, 'cause he's pretty much useless right now."

"Quiet Dante. I'm trying to concentrate on MY mission."

Dante pulled out his phone and hung up on Trish. "There ya' go, you stuck up bitch."

* * *

The Witch yawned as she hopped off of her broom. She stretched with a groan and felt her joints pop. "Oh that's better~ I hate flying for that long…" She looked around and then pouted. "Dammit… she didn't say where we need to look. One sec." The Witch pulled out her phone and then called Mitsuru.

"What is it Lolikano?"

Lolikano almost dropped her phone and then yelled at Mitsuru. "I told you never to call me that!"

Mitsuru chuckled. "I know. But it aggravates you to no end."

Loli groaned. "You forgot to mention where the target is."

"You're in California, right?"

Lolikano looked around for a moment. "Eh… Baja."

"Well, go to the American California, and then go to the Kirijo building there. Say that you're representing me and then ask for the targets."

Loli groaned like a child. "Why…?! I just got off the broom!"

"Well, the building is in the nicer northern California, so… get flying." Mitsuru hung up on the 6o year old child and chuckled.

Lolikano sighed as she hopped back onto her broom. "Come on Dylan. We have to keep going."

Dylan nodded as he hopped onto the broom.

"Ugh… this day is awful…" She then flew north towards America.

* * *

Nanako looked down at the her feet. Her and Yu were sitting at the dinner table alone… again. …Dad's late…"

Yu nodded and looked at the TV as the news started up.

"Our next story is an update in our ongoing reports on the bizarre murder cases occurring in Inaba."

' _Son of a bitch, what now?!'_

"At around 7:00 AM, a local high school student named Saki Konishi was found dead in Inaba's residential area. Since the body was positioned similarly to the last victim, and since Ms. Konishi was the one who found that body, police are proceeding under the assumption that this may be a serial murder case related to the death of Mayumi Yamano. The coroner's report has established Ms. Konishi's time of death at around 1:00 A.M. last night. The body went unnoticed until this morning as a result of the heavy fog blanketing the area."

Nanako stared at the TV with nearly dead eyes. "Another incident… Dad won't be coming home tonight…"

Yu sighed and then looked over at Nanako. "It can't be helped… he was called in. I'm sure that he wanted to come home tonight, but… well, it isn't his fault. And… I'll still be here with you"

Nanako looked over at Yu and nodded. "I'll be alright… Umm… Can you help me do some things around the house…?"

Yu smiled. "Of course. We better hurry then so you don't miss your show." Yu stood up and then immediately walked into the kitchen and started doing dishes. Though, he was distracted by the news.

"… Amagi Inn, located upstream of the Samegawa River, is the town's oldest historical landmark. Vacationers are known to travel surprising distances in order to visit its open air, radium rich hot springs."

The screen changed to a pre-recorded clip of a reported standing in front of the Inn. "After the incident with Ms. Yamano, the manager has stepped aside, leaving her daughter Yukiko to fill her shoes." The screen then changed to show an interview with Yukiko in the pink kimono that she wore today. "In other words, she's a manager who's still in high school. Now that has a nice ring to it! Let's see if we can get an interview with her. Excuse me!"

Yukiko looked shocked that she was having a camera getting shoved into her face. "Oh… a-are you speaking to me?"

"We've heard that you're the new manager! Is it true that you're still in high school?"

"O-Oh, well, I'm only filling in temporarily…"

"Some day though. That aside, wow! You look gorgeous in that kimono! You must have had a lot of male visitors."

Yu's eyes narrowed at the TV in rage as the plate he was holding began to shake. "Son of a bitch… hitting on a high schooler… When I find him…"

Yukiko looked away, probably creeped out enough to the point where she didn't want to look the reported in the eye anymore. "What? No… why would you assume that?"

Yu kept listening to the news as he turned away. The plate began to crack after a bit of time passed. Then **[Gamer's Mind]** finally began to kick in and he took a deep breath, quickly calming down. "Nanako, could you please change that into something you like?"

Nanako nodded and changed it to a game show that she frequently watched.

After an hour of work, Yu put Nanako to bet, then went up into his room, wanting to sleep.

* * *

Yu flopped onto his futon with his eyes closed. "Okay… let's recap… I've been here for three days, and already have discovered a secret power, barely survived meeting a GOD, two people have been murdered, I've fought a horde of demons, discovered ANOTHER secret power, been recruited by a group of badasses who have a similar power as mine, fell into a TV, spoke to a living teddie bear thing that calls me 'Sensei', fought these weird ball Shadow things, ran from a ton of those things, fell into the TV AGAIN, and killed a giant Shadow, which led to someone awakening THEIR powers." He took a deep breath, then groaned. "What the hell is going on with my life?!"

Dante slurped his strawberry milkshake. "Sounds like you won the game of 'Who's the Protag'."

Yu jumped from his futon and stared at Dante. He whisper-yelled at him. "What are you doing here?!"

Dante tossed the cup out of the open window. "My job. Remember?" He then walked over to Yu and fell back onto the couch. "Pretty nice pad you got here. A bunch of boxes, but hey, it's better then my place."

Yu glared at him. "What do you want Dante…?"

"Well, you said to come to you if I wanted to discuss any of the finer details of the job."

"Is it past Midnight…?"

"Not really."

Yu walked over to the window and then sighed. "Look, just… stay there and I'll be back soon. Just… don't break anything." He then used **[Rengoku]** and entered a Zombie dungeon.

Dante stared at where Yu had been. "… I wonder…" He stood up and broke into Yu's barrier to see him and Izanagi running on the street, slaughtering zombies. "Oh sweet! I didn't know that he could do this!" Dante jumped off of the roof and ran after Yu.

Yu smirked and tested out **[Garu]** on a zombie and saw it tear it's arm off. He then activated **[Elemental Enhancement]** on his golf club and an invisible layer of wind wrapped around the weapon. Yu spun out of the way of a Zombie's bite from behind him and used the momentum of the spin to strike at the two zombies that were now in front of him. One of them died and turned into black smoke while the other one was knocked down. Yu had Izanagi finish off by stabbing it in its face. He then dispelled Izanagi and took a deep breath. He wanted to see how he fared against the enemies without his Persona. He was about to rush the crowd of zombies in front of him when he heard a few gunshots go off behind him. Yu turned to see Dante firing at the Zombies, a grin on his face. "You followed me?!"

Dante killed a few more zombies. "Yeah! This is actually fun! I've never killed these things before! They make great target practice!" His arms flashed and he was suddenly wielding an icy blue tripartite nunchaku that had black chains attaching the bladed rods to a black ring. Dante smirked as he began to expertly strike the zombies around him at blinding speeds, killing each walking corpse with one blow to the head. "Though they're a little boring." He kept swinging the nunchucks as he walked towards Yu, leaving smoking black, yet half frozen corpses in his path.

Yu groaned as he turned back towards the horde in front of him. He launched **[Zio]** at one of them to get their attention, then used **[Garu]** to knock it down.

 **[Zio] has gained a level!**

 **[Garu] has gained a level!**

Yu smirked and ran over to the downed zombie and hit it as hard as he could. It took a few hits to kill, but that just meant that he needed to step up his training. Or at least do more strenuous exercises. He was about to do his combo again, but a swarm of electrified bats turned the zombies in front of him to ash. He saw that the zombie hi killed had dropped some money, so he took it.

Dante noticed this. "Holy shit these things leave their money behind?!" He laughed and then equipped some weird purple half armor.

Yu observed that armor.

 **Gilgamesh**

 **A Devil arm owned by Dante. Those that wield Gilgamesh are granted a significant boost in strength, and an even larger boost in speed.**

 **Must be part Devil to equip**

Yu wanted to gaze at it longer, but Dante was gone. He turned around and saw that the horde that he faced before were all dead and fading. Yu gathered up as much of the money as he could, but he couldn't get much as Dante reappeared behind him.

"Haven't used these in a while! And while I'm glad that I don't have to fight a big thing, those were so boring."

Yu heard a loud booming sound coming towards them. He turned around and saw a giant, bald zombie running towards them.

 **Colossal Amalgam**

 **Legion Zombie**

 **LV: 45**

Dante saw Yu pause and he turned around as well and saw the big creepy thing running towards the two of them. "Huh. Spoke too soon." He stepped back into a battle stance and appeared behind the Legion Zombie, his fist extended. The giant's legs exploded. Dante laughed at how easy it was to kill that thing and then saw that it wasn't dead. So he walked up to it's face and kicked it as hard as he could, making its head fly off. The flying head and the body began to fade into smoke. "Still boring. Huh." He saw the body fade entirely and saw that it left a pile of money, which he took, a few round vials with red stuff in it, and a book. "Hey kid! You know what these things are?"

Yu stuffed some more of the dropped money into his pocket, which led to his **Inventory**. He walked over to Dante and looked at the book.

 **Life Drain Skill Book**

He thought that he did a pretty good job at hiding his excitement. But when he saw the vials, he just gaped at them.

 **Lowest-Grade Health Potion**

"T-That's… not possible…"

Dante raised a brow in confusion. "What's not possible kid?"

"T-These… These are healing potions…" Yu delicately picked one up and stared at it. "I want you to hit me."

"Okay. But why?"

"To see if these are real."

"But… why you?"

Yu stared at Dante. "… If I could hurt you, would I really need to hire you?"

Dante blinked, then shrugged. "Fair point." He then hit Yu very lightly, which still sent him flying. "… Man you're light."

Yu groaned as he looked at his HP.

 **HP: 5/300**

He shook off the pain and then uncorked the bottle. "Okay… let's see if this works." He chugged it, then gagged at the taste. ' _God dammit! I hate cherries!'_ He finished the potion with a shudder and then glanced at his HP again.

 **HP: 205/300**

Dante walked over to Yu, carrying the other two. "So… I assume that it worked?"

Yu nodded as he tossed the vial behind him. He didn't want to experience that again. "Yeah, but it tastes like cherries." He scrambled to catch the two that Dante tossed at him.

"Then take 'em. I can't stand the taste of cherries." He then tossed the book at Yu, who got hit in the face with it. "Also, if a book doesn't have sexy chicks in it, then I'm not interested."

Yu groaned as he set the potions down. "What, do you like strawberries more?"

Dante was already drinking a strawberry milkshake.

' _Where does he get those things…?'_

"Yep. But I add some booze to it to spice things up." Dante chugged his milkshake, then dropped the glass. "Anyways kid, here's a deal that you may be interested in. You take me on these little hunting trips of yours and I get to keep any money that comes out of it. In exchange, I'll give you a few pointers on how to kill things with a sword."

"Not interested." Yu hopped back up into his room and stored those things into his **Inventory** before Dante had a chance to see what happened.

Dante followed him. "Wait, why not?! It'll be fun!"

Yu looked at him once before shattering his barrier. "Because, if I do that, I'll have no money to pay for the job that you're already doing. I'm also not to keen on getting slapped around by someone leagues stronger than me." He smirked a bit as he laid down. "I was also told to never make a deal with a Devil."

Dante chuckled. "I'm a half Devil, actually, and it's a little late to be saying that. You already made a deal with me. It's not like I own your soul. You just pay me."

Yu nodded. "And how exactly will I pay you if you take all the money from my hunting trips?"

Dante nodded slowly. "That's fair… how about half?"

"No."

"A quarter?"

"Dante!"

"Fine… make my life harder why don't you…?"

Yu sighed. "If you really want to do this, you'll have to find someone else to protect Nanako, because if you're training me, then you aren't focused on her 24/7." He then began to study his skills. He focused on **[Elemental Enhancement]** the most though, as it said that armor can also be enhanced. It didn't say that yesterday. He activated it and lightning arced around his body. Yu smiled, then replaced lighting with wind. The wind showed nothing, and the only noticeable thing with it was that the room was slightly windy around Yu. He figured that it would get cheaper the more he used it, but he wanted to keep it on constantly. So he dumped two points into INT to raise his SP regen rate to 10 per minute. Though, he forgot about the whole WIS thing where it adds 1% of his base SP to his regen rate, so he now has a regen rate of 11.25 SP per minute. He smirked in victory, finding another exploit in his skills.

 **For discovering a way to train your skills in the real world, you have gained +1 WIS**

' _I'm really loving my ability right now.'_ Yu looked back at Dante and saw him just staring, bored. "Again, if you can get someone else to protect Nanako, then I'll accept your training, and you'll get half of the money found on those trips. So… go do your job." He fell onto his futon and then attempted to fall asleep. When he found that he couldn't, he pulled out his laptop and began to play Shogi on there.

Dante sat down on the couch. "Uh… What the hell are you doing kid?"

Yu stared at his computer screen as he made his first move. "Playing Shogi. It's the japanese equivalent to your chess. Now that I mention it, you're pretty fluent in the language for someone who comes from America."

Dante groaned deeply. "Don't even get me started. Trish, she's my co-worker, made me learn all these different kinds of languages just so that I don't act stupid when I'm taking international jobs. And how did you know that I was from America?"

Yu pulled out Dante's card. "I looked you up. You're based in America, but you're looking to change areas because work is slower there and you don't feel like paying a ticket every time you fly to Japan to take care of another demon."

"It is true that we do most of our business in Japan… Which is really weird. I mean, the first place you'd expect demons to be popping up from everywhere is Vegas of Germany, but no! It's Japan! I think that this place is cursed somehow."

Yu looked back at Dante. "Do you really believe in that stuff?"

Dante nodded. "Of course I do! Especially all that witch crap. I met a woman named Bayonetta at some point. I was hired to search for the 'Left Eye' or whatever the hell that is. We fought, then we killed my employer. Turns out he was a demon. Happens a lot. Which is why I get paid half of my fees for stuff that's not on the normal list up front. She ran off somewhere, and I haven't seen her since. She had this hot friend too. Didn't catch her name." He then looked at the TV. "… Hey… Is your TV supposed to do that?"

Yu fell out of his chair and looked at the TV. He gasped when he saw the silhouette of a woman on the TV. "Son of a bitch!"

Dante ate a slice of pizza. "So, what's that high school chick doing on the TV? She's clearly too young to be showing all of her shadowy bits on the screen."

Yu glared at Dante and then turned back to the TV to see a glitched name above the girl. ' _Dammit! So I can't see their names like this…'_ He was being forced to wait.

Dante looked at Yu. "Ya sure that you don't need my training now kid?"

* * *

Yu panted as he finished up his workout for the day. He kept trying to advance his physical stats, but he had probably only made progress with his VIT for pushing himself. He heard someone clapping at him mockingly.

"Bravo kid. You exhausted yourself by doing useless shit."

"Quiet Dante! And aren't you supposed to be protecting Nanako?!"

Dante smirked. "Nah. I was able to hand that job over to someone more capable for protection. I like killing things more." He walked over to Yu and placed Rebellion on his back, pinning him to the ground. "Do your push ups with Rebellion. It's much harder. He's really heavy."

Yu nodded and tried to push himself off of the ground. After a few minutes, he was able to do one. ' _So, this is how Teddie's training. Sort of.'_ He slowly lowered himself and began to do his push ups again.

 **HP: 299/300**

Yu groaned in pain as he forced himself to keep going.

 **I couldn't think of anything fun for this. +1 STR**

 **You have pushed yourself past your limits! +1 VIT**

Dante noticed the very slight difference in Yu's movements. "Wow, you adapt fast kid. Most people's backs give out at this point. Good for you."

Yu nodded and tried to distract himself from his constant pain, which **[Gamer's Body]** didn't get rid of.

 **HP: 298/325**

Yu groaned again from the pain, but he kept going. "So… Who… took… your… job… Dante…?"

Dante fell onto his back. "Just Trish. She flew in last night."

Yu nodded and then activated **[Elemental Enhancement]** so that he could train that as well. He was just glad that he didn't need to focus on it.

 **Still haven't thought of anything good. +1 STR**

 **You have pushed yourself past your limits! +1 VIT**

"You adapt really fast… Either that or your body heals itself constantly so you don't have to worry about your arms tearing themselves off."

 **HP: 297/350**

Yu smirked and then was forced into the ground by Dante.

"That's enough of that. Now run around with Rebellion on your back." Dante grinned. Apparently, he was sadistic. Really. Sadistic. He tied Rebellion to Yu's back and then picked him up. "Get running."

Yu nodded and started running around the area. Which happened to be the Samegawa riverbank. At 2 in the morning. He didn't need much sleep anymore.

Dante sighed as he opened Pandora's box and it morphed into a lawn chair. "666 forms and I got the chair. Nice."

* * *

Lolikano groaned pitifully as she laid on the ground. She had just gotten in front of the Kirijo building, and she still hadn't gotten used to the 7 hour difference between the countries of Japan and America. Pile that on top of the flight lag from Europe to Japan and she was suffering right now. Luckily it was in the morning, so if she took care of her job now, then she'd be able to relax for the rest of the day after she murdered her targets in cold blood. She held her hand over her mouth as she stood up. "O-Okay Dylan… let's just get this over with so that we can relax." Loli dusted herself off and then walked into the building with a very convincing smile on her face. She walked towards the front desk. "Hello there! Sorry that I'm dressed like this. I have hobbies. Unlike Ms. Kirijo, who sent me here."

The woman nodded and began to type. "Alright, tell me your name so that we can get you into our applicant section right away."

Lolikano frowned and then slammed a temporary I.D onto the desk. "I'm probably already in the system as a freelance… worker. Name's Mistream. Look it up really quickly."

The attendant nodded absently and then checked the system. He saw Lolikano's file and saw that she was granted full access to everything. "I-I'm so sorry Ms. Mistream. What is it that you're here for?"

Loli smirked. "I need two employees brought down here. They're getting fired and Ms. Kirijo wants me to do it on their break so they can't log in extra hours. Or get their stuff."

The attendant nodded and prepared an email. "And who is it that you want to see?"

"Haruto and Sana Seta. And could you not mention that they're being terminated… from the company?" Lolikano made the cutest face that you've ever seen. "Pleeeeease?"

The woman nodded with a tiny blush and began to type up the email. "This may take a moment, so would you mind if you wait in here for a while?"

Loli nodded and skipped over to the chairs. She had a predatory grin on her face.

* * *

Yu collapsed near the water, totally exhausted. He hadn't even been running for that long. Though it was long enough to get 3 more points into his DEX, and 1 into his VIT. He had also gained a 5 levels in his **[Elemental Enhancement]** from keeping it on the entire time he was running.

Dante walked over to Yu carrying a briefcase with a skull on it. "You did good kid. Didn't last as long as I hoped, but, I think that you're making progress."

Yu looked up at Dante. "… What is it… with everyone… carrying a briefcase…?!"

Dante looked at Pandora's Box and shrugged. "Who knows? But unlike the other people who had them, this suitcase is 100% badass. It has 666 forms in it, though I've only found 9. One is that chair that I was sitting in." He got rid of the box and took Rebellion back. "I think that you made some progress. Which is impressive considering that it's your first day. You're on the road to being a badass kid." He picked Yu up and dusted him off, even through the wind around his clothes. "But you have a long way to go. A real. Long way. And I'll help you get there. For the right price, of course."

A shattering sound was heard.

" _I am thou… thou art I… Thou hast established a new bond… Thou shalt reach new strength when fusing Personae of the Chariot Arcana!"_

' _Well… that's… meh.'_ Yu nodded and checked the time. He has time to burn so he opened an empty barrier and began to launch as many **[Zio]** spells as he could, to see if he could level it up without a target.

 **[Zio] has gained a level!**

Yu smirked, seeing that he was correct. He carefully watched his SP bar to make sure that he didn't run out of numbers. Once he was near 10 SP, he stopped to rest. He checked the windows that popped up while he launched them.

 **[Zio] has gained a level!**

 **[Zio] has gained a level!**

 **[Zio] has gained a level!**

Yu still felt the exhaustion of launching that many lightning attacks in quick succession, but it was nothing compared to when he had overused **[Summon Persona]**. Speaking of, he checked his skill list and saw that he had dismissed windows for it during battle when he was focused on surviving.

 **Summon Persona** **(Active): LV:8 EXP: 14.27% SP Cost: Special: The inner self manifested**

 **as a physical being, granting you the power to fight Demons and Shadows.**

 **-When active, all skills are channeled through your Persona at a reduced cost and**

 **increased damage**

 **-When active, physical skills cost HP to activate, but damage output is increased**

 **-When active, your motions are mimicked by your inner self**

 **-Costs 9300 SP per minute to maintain**

It made sense that it had leveled, considering that he fought everything while using Izanagi, but the cost was still way too high for him to keep on forever. Though it seemed to go down every level, so maybe once he reached level 90 or so in it, he could keep it on constantly. On the other hand, he could just increase his INT and WIS to get more SP. Maybe he could find a skill or an item that boosted his SP regen. ' _Wait… If I raise my WISH… It increases my SP regeneration by a percentage. So that would increase my survival rate.'_ He nodded and then dumped ten stat points into WIS, bringing it up to 30, and making his total SP regen to 15 points per minute. Well, 6 really, because he had **[Elemental Enhancement]** on all the time, or he at least planned to. He was about to break the barrier, when Dante walked in on him.

"Did my little student need some private time?" Dante laughed as Yu jumped out of his skin.

Yu had summoned Izanagi on a reflex. "Dante! What the hell man?!" The form of Izanagi faded as Yu glared at the half-Devil.

"I'm not sorry! That was great!" Dante clapped to himself as he laughed. He kept laughing for a few minutes before sighing and wiping away a tear. "Okay… so, what're you up to?"

Yu groaned and then sat down. "I'm trying to increase the strength of my… I guess that I can call it magic now, and I'm making progress, but it's slow." He looked at his hand for some reason. As he wasn't wearing any gloves, no wind swirled around his hands, so he didn't have to worry about reaching for some paper and having it fly all over the room. "I also read that book that you killed the giant zombie for. The problem is that it's horrible right now." Yu pulled up his skill list and looked at **[Life Drain]**. He had learned it on the way to the Samegawa, thinking that it would be amazing. It was horrible.

 **Life Drain** **(Active): LV:1 EXP: 0.00% SP cost: 5 per second: The caster steals the life**

 **force of a targeted enemy. With enough training, the caster may transfer their life force**

 **to an ally.**

 **Drains 1 HP per second**

 **Range: Touch**

"How strong is it?"

"It wouldn't even scratch you." Yu sighed as he closed his skill list. "And I'm to tired to train it right now…" Yu sighed, then groaned in pain as he felt Rebellion get tied to his back.

Dante picked Yu up again and then smirked as he forced the barrier to break. "Get running."

Yu groaned again and began to run as fast as he could again, seeing as his physical stamina was healed.

Dante pulled out Ebony and Ivory and shot silenced rounds right behind Yu's feet. "Faster! Dance puppet! Dance!"

* * *

Lolikano twiddled her thumbs as she waited. It was better than flying across the ocean and the seven seas. She heard the elevator ding and saw two people in business suits walk out of it. One was a grey haired gentleman with no other defining features. The other was a woman with long, black hair with pale skin and grey eyes. ' _Target's acquired.'_ The Witch hopped off of the chair and walked over to the two people. "Hi there! You don't need to know my name, but if you do know it, then either way, Kirijo-san sent me, so you two are to follow me." She turned around and began to walk away, hearing the two sets of footsteps behind her.

She smirked and then waited for them outside. Once the two were outside of the building, she dragged them into the barrier that Dylan had made for this. Her eyes glinted red as she held her broom in front of her. Her entire form began to glow a very dark red. "I swear by the Bloodroot, I lookest at thou. Now thine lives belong to me. Come without hesitation!" A wave of red and black energy washed over the two and soon they looked like they had been mummified. Lolikano laughed at how easily they died as red beams came from the bodies and flowed into her. She conjured two fireballs to incinerate them, as to not leave anything behind for anyone to find. "Horpitia. We're done here. We should report back to Mitsu so that we don't have to give the money back." She hopped onto her broom and waited for Dylan to stand on it before flying up high enough to where, if there were people around, no one could see them flying before breaking the barrier and flying towards Japan.

* * *

After what felt like hours of running, Yu's SP had finally gotten up to full again. He groaned as he checked the windows he had ignored while he was running from Dante.

 **Dance puppet! DANCE! +1 DEX**

 **Dance puppet! DANCE! +1 DEX**

 **You have pushed yourself past your limits! +1 VIT**

 **Someone from the reviews please help me get a funny line for STR! +1 STR**

 **[Elemental Enhancement] has gained a level!**

 **[Elemental Enhancement] has gained a level!**

 **[Elemental Enhancement] has gained a level!**

 **[Elemental Enhancement] has gained a level!**

' _What the hell are reviews…?'_ Yu fell onto his hands and knees and felt the immense weight of Rebellion get taken off of him.

Dante swallowed his bite of pizza. "Alright, take five." He kicked Yu in the stomach and sent him flying.

Yu said nothing as he landed harshly and tumbled near the river. Instead, he checked his HP and saw that it was… at max. ' _Oh well… I guess that I had better start training again. Right now, I need to choose something to focus on. While_ _ **[Zio]**_ _is the easiest, I think that I'll need something a little better when I'm in a pinch. So…_ _ **[Life Drain]**_ _it is!'_ He walked over to Dante and then grabbed onto his shoulder.

Dante was confused. "What is it kid?"

" **Life Drain** "

"Wait, Life what- … This kinda tingles." Dante looked at Yu while a green glow enveloped the both of them. "So, what is this? The thing that you told me that sucks?"

Yu nodded as he watched his SP drain at an alarming rate. He hit 10 SP and cut it off. ' _So I can drain 73 points of HP if I keep my buff skill up.'_

 **[Life Drain] has gained a level!**

 **[Life Drain] has gained a level!**

 **[Life Drain] has gained a level!**

 **[Life Drain] has gained a level!**

Yu quickly checked the skill and saw the changes. ' _Huh. Make that 345 maximum. And I can do it at range now, so that's gr-'_ His thoughts were interrupted by Dante punching him in the face.

"Warn me before you do something like that! It was really annoying!"

 **A special skill has been created through a special act!**

 **Through embracing pain and all that comes with it, the skill [Physical Endurance] has been created!**

 **Physical Endurance** **(Passive): LV: 20 EXP: 0.00%: Life's pain. The more you experience, the more you can take.**

 **Physical damage is reduced by 23%**

Yu stared at the new skill. ' _That's odd… why is it already at level 20? Oh yeah… well, not going to think about it right now, just going to wait until I actually have to tell someone to confront it.'_ Yu nodded and then hit the ground hard.

 **HP: 120/400**

Yu quickly got up and dusted himself off. He looked over at Dante and then flipped him off.

Dante stared at Yu and then gave him a silent thumbs-up.

Yu sighed and then ran back over to Dante. "I have to get to school. Thanks for the training." He then ran out of Dante's field of vision and pulled his school stuff out of his inventory.

Dante smirked and then chuckled. "Oh, he's gonna be in for a shock when he gets there." Dante then began to laugh evilly as he faded into a barrier.

 **You feel an ominous presence**

Yu looked at the window and sighed. "What else is new?" He then looked behind him and saw Yosuke riding towards him.

Yosuke waved at Yu. "Yo!" He pulled over in front of Yu, panting softly. "Y-You saw what was on TV last night, right?!"

Yu nodded calmly. He had already gotten all of the panic he could muster beaten out of him today.

"Well, I couldn't tell who it was, but if someone's on The Midnight Channel, that means that they're inside of that place!" Yosuke looked like he was trying to calm himself down. "We need to help them. Let's go visit Teddie after school today. If he can tell where this person is, then we can save them before anything bad happens to them! And we might even catch the killer in the process!"

Yu closed his eyes and nodded. "If someone is inside of that place, saving them is our top priority. The killer can wait if they've already acted again." He began to think, his 30 WIS working overtime to help him choose the correct course of action at this moment.

Yosuke looked decisive. "Right. I know that. But… if someone is using that world as a weapon… that's unforgivable. And… It's not like the police would believe us if we said 'Hey! There's this guy who kills people by throwing his victims into the TV!' We have to do this ourselves. We're the only ones who can."

' _Dante was right. I really did win the game of "Who's the Protag"…'_ "Let's put an end to this and catch this bastard."

Yosuke grinned. "So, does that mean we're partners?"

Yu nodded silently.

Yosuke then held his hand towards Yu. "Then put 'er there… partner!"

Yu smirked and then took Yosuke's hand eagerly.

" _I am thou… Thou art I… Thou hast established a new bond… Thou shalt reach new strength when fusing Personae of the Magician Arcana!"_

Yosuke let go of Yu's hand and relaxed. "You know…? I tried sticking my head into the TV last night, the way you did… and it worked!" He then did that stereotypical thing that people do when they have new powers and looked at his hands. "I think that it's because I have the same power… Persona? Was that what it was called…? A-Anyways, could it be that someone gave us this power specifically to solve this case?" Yosuke hummed in thought. "Then again, you managed to go inside of the TV and get your Persona first…Huh."

"What is it Yosuke?"

"For some reason… It feels like, as long as you're with me, I can find the culprit and crack this case." Yosuke chuckled and then looked away. "Anyways, let's do our best!"

Yu nodded and checked his phone. "Son of a bitch! We're late!" He then turned towards the school and took off running as fast as he could. He was clearly much faster than yesterday, but he knew that he needed to get much faster. He needed to get so much stronger if he could even hold a candle to what he assumed were the real threats if there's someone with all question marks for stats just lazing around like he is. ' _Fucking Dante… rubbing his stats in my face every time I see him… One day I'm going to be able to see those stats… then we'll see who's all high and mighty!'_ His forced passive-aggressive thoughts pushed him to run much faster than he has ever run before, leaving Yosuke behind in a few seconds. Though it didn't mean anything as Yosuke wasn't moving.

Yosuke shrugged and started pedalling towards Yasogami High.

* * *

Philemon sipped at his wine as he sat in the Velvet Room. "You're probably wondering why I didn't let you bring him into here last night."

Igor nodded silently as he began to set the Compendium up for Yu.

Philemon set his glass down and he leaned forward. "Well, you won't be able to let him use skill cards. Or at least not in the conventional sense. You'd have to make them a one-time use spell, and I know that it would be hard for you to do that when you prepared for a completely different situation." He stood up and looked at the driver's seat. "Theo, could you pull over for a moment please? I need to see how our guest is doing."

Theodore rolled down the window separating the driver and the passengers. "Of course, Master Philemon. Though I can only stop for a moment."

Philemon sighed dejectedly. "Oh well. I only need a moment to check up on him." The god heard the wheels squeal when they stopped. He opened the door and stepped outside seeing the normal blue fog, but slightly more clear, and with trace bits of other colors in there. "It seems that the fog is beginning to clear." He closed his eyes and then sighed. He breathed deeply to try to discern how his guest was doing, but then collapsed in a coughing fit.

Igor looked out the door and began to shuffle his deck of Tarot cards in the air.

Philemon crawled back into the limo and closed the door, still coughing. "Oh! Oh god!" He slowly stopped coughing over the course of a minute. Philemon chugged his wine s Elizabeth, Margaret, and Marie stared at him. He gasped for air once he finished chugging his glass of wine. "O-Okay…! Do not go out there yet! His mind is toxic!"

Margaret hummed as she practiced shuffling her cards. "I wonder what the boy's life was like before all of this… Elizabeth?"

Elizabeth looked over at Margaret, blushing slightly from being drunk. "Yesh~~~ Shister~~~?"

Margaret chuckled at her little sister's antics. "How did you bond with your guest?"

"I 'ad 'im take me on all shorts of datesh~~~~ He wash sho fun~~~~!"

Marie stared at Elizabeth. "I…" She handed her glass to the drunk. "I don't think that I should drink this red stuff…"

Elizabeth forced the rim of the glass to Marie's mouth. "It'sh fine Mary~~~~! You jusht needto drink it~~"

"It's Mari-" Marie was cut off as Elizabeth forced the girl to drink the wine.

Igor groaned as he rubbed his temples. "Elizabeth. That's enough of that. You will stop drinking now."

Elizabeth glowered at Igor, attempting to mimic his face. "You jusht like to shuck the joy out of everyting, don't you 'Mashter'…?"

"Theodore, maybe now would be a good time to resume our drive." Philemon covered his smile as he tried not to laugh at the drunken girl. "And try to make as many sudden stops as you can to knock this drunken woman down."

Elizabeth turned to Philemon and pointed at him accusingly. "I'mnot drunk! You'r drunk!"

Igor groaned again. "Please hurry Theodore…"

* * *

Lolikano fell off her broom as soon as she entered Mitsuru's office. "Ugh… why… do I always take… international… jobs…?!"

Mitsuru helped the woman to stand. "Simply because they pay more then regular jobs."

Loli smirked as she pulled a sucker from her dress. "Damn right they do… Oh yeah, and before you ask, Yes, they're dead, no I can't be linked to the deaths, and no, I didn't use the fake name you gave me." She stuck her tongue out and then placed the candy in her mouth.

"Good. Because now that you've completed the mission, I have another one for you."

Lolikano groaned loudly. "What is it now Mitsu…?"

"Observation."

"Of…?"

"My new employee, Yu Narukami." She pulled out a nearly barren folder that had Yu's name on it. Mitsuru then handed the file to Lolikano.

The witch opened the file to see a picture of a grey haired boy with grey eyes smiling. "Ooo! He looks cute!" ' _Definitely the son of the two targets that I just killed. So why… oh. He's the one who… oh…!'_ She lifted the picture to see another one where he looks like he's annoyed. ' _Definitely cute!'_ "So, what's the big deal with the cutie here? Is he important?"

Mitsuru nodded. "Very. I recruited him as one of my Black Ops agents and he's scheduled to go into the field once he finishes high school."

Lolikano stared at Mitsuru. "You mean like that pro baseball player, and the pink ranger from Phoenix Ranger Featherman R?"

"How do you even know that show…?"

"I have a lot of downtime. So really, what's so special about him?"

Mitsuru pointed at the folder.

Lolikano groaned and decided to read. "Okay… here it is. 'Able to create stable barriers at will, with no signs of ever coming in contact with the Abyss prior to contact' Okay… That's pretty cool. 'Able to call forth their Persona without the use of an Evoker…'? What the hell is a 'Persona'?"

Mitsuru pulled her evoker from her desk and placed the barrel to her temple. "Come! Artemisia!" She pulled the trigger and a transparent figure formed from glowing blue shards.

Lolikano gaped in awe. "So… cool…! Wait, so if that's a Persona… Is the gun an Evoker?"

Mitsuru nodded as her Persona faded. "An Evoker is a tool that we use to call our Personae out for battle. Narukami-san here has the ability to call forth his Persona, Izanagi, without an Evoker." She set the gun down and looked into the Witch's eyes. "I assume that this goes without saying that it needs to be covert?"

Lolikano looked confused. "As in the whole Persona thing, or not getting caught by Yu?"

The redhead looked at Lolikano, then facepalmed. "The information about our Personae. We have the best security in the world, so not even the Abyss Auction knows about it. They know about everything else, but we've kept our information on Persona and Evokers locked up so tight, even a god couldn't get through. Trust me, I know. It doesn't matter if you get caught by Yu, as long as you report to me all of his activities. I like to have comprehensive data on all of my employees, and Narukami is no different."

Lolikano nodded slowly. "Two more things. One, is he in another country?"

"No, he is not."

Lolikano danced with joy. Once she finished that, she cleared her throat. "And two… How dangerous is he…?"

Mitsuru hummed for a moment. "I haven't thought of his risk level, but I would say he's very low risk, but his flight risk is very high. And as he doesn't utilize mana, you won't have to worry about protecting him."

Lolikano nodded and walked towards her broom, with Dylan still standing on it. "I don't need to be paid now, but I expect something high for watching this boy, even though he's cute…"

Mitsuru sighed. "I'll see what I can do regarding payment."

Lolikano nodded as she flew off to look for Yu.

* * *

Yu tapped his fingers on his desk as he waited for his English teacher to show up. When he heard the door open, his eyes widened in shock.

Dante walked into the classroom with a victorious grin on his face. "Hello class, my name is Dante Sparda, and I'll be your English and Physical Education teacher for the year." He looked over at Yu and his grin widened. "I hope that we all get along."

* * *

*10000 pounds is equal to 1389340.57 yen, which is equal to 14024499.14 south korean won as a comparison to what Shin Sun-Il said to Han Jee-Han about how much some items cost in the abyss

**Juban: A formal kimono that allows for undergarments

 **So, this is shorter then I would've liked, but I wanted to get this chapter out for you all to see. I put a poll on my profile for who you would like to see Yu romance. For the people who voted in the reviews, I already added your votes onto there. I'll keep it open for a few chapters and whoever wins, wins. And if the winner just so happens to be a harem, I'll put in another poll for who you want in the Harem. With multiple choices. That's all I really have to say for now, so… I'll talk to you next time!**


	6. Not a Dream

**Hello everybody. I'm honestly kinda amazed at the support that I'm getting from you all. I was actually really afraid when I started this again, because… well when you put yourself out there, it breaks you to see when your creation is torn to shreds or… or mocked… treated as a joke… but you guys have been extremely supportive, and for that, I am extremely grateful. It's actually really humbling, seeing that people out there genuinely enjoy your content, and want to see more of what you do. So thank you all so much for supporting me. Now that I got that off my chest… Here is the poll so far.**

 **Harem: 17 votes**

 **Marie: 4 votes**

 **Naoto: 3 votes**

 **Yukiko/Rise/Lolikano: 2 votes**

 **Yosuke/Chie/Dante/Trish: 1 vote**

 **Kanji/Teddie/Yukari/Junpei/Akihiko/Mitsuru/Fuuka/Ken/Labrys/Sho/Margaret/Elizabeth: 0 votes**

 **So...yeah. It looks like there's going to be a harem so far. I'm happy that the people who voted went out of their way and took the time to vote. I never think of relationships in these things unless it's completely set, so this is really helpful. For those who are a little skeptical, I won't judge at all. And if you're worried, well, I can't see your usernames anyways, so you don't have to worry about being mocked for shipping Yu with someone. So don't be shy and vote for whoever you want. And if you don't want to vote, no problem at all, you don't have to. And now it's time to respond to some questions.**

 **Sky Rune- I'll answer your questions in order. 1,They will still be going to Iwatodai. I'm also fairly sure that those three are no longer friends. Just being honest here. And this is after the events of Nocturne, as Dante is here. 2, I don't think that it will be a summer trip. Yu WILL be going there at some point, but not with his Persona pals. 3, IF this story take the harem route, I will not have it be just a festival of sex. There are only a few on there that would really be ready for sex in the first place. It will not be a fuckfest, as I specifically said** **romance** **on the poll. So you don't have to worry about that. And 4, Minato Arisato, and he most likely dated Aigis in this one. Though I prefer dating Mitsuru when I play the game, I feel like having Aigis as Minato's romantic interest would tie the story together well.**

 **Lukenhaft: Welcome back! And yes. King Moron has been removed from his throne by the one and only Lord Badass, Dante Sparda!**

 **Blarg7865: Yu's stat gain is going to to slow down, don't worry. But to be honest, Ryuugi's "The Game We Play" gave him stats for a while until he hit 100, then it slowed down like crazy. It got to the point where Jaune had to drag 5 ton cubes of solid stone to increase his physical stats. I'll stick close to Persona, but there are already elements of other SMT games like Nocturne. I'll stay away from Devil Survivor though, because in both of those game, at the end, you turn back time and the week never happened. So that won't happen. I'll also steer clear of Digital Devil Saga, because… It's not like I could make that work even if I tried. So… don't worry about Yu suddenly turning into a Demon. With Nocturne, let's just say that the protag of that game is going to be in a purely passive or teacher position IF I introduce him. As he ranks Philemon in strength as a Demi-Fiend, he won't be fighting with or against Yu. Lady and Patty are… preoccupied right now, the original English teacher came down with a sudden case of broken limbs. He… fell down some stairs. And Izanami is… Izanami. She doesn't care how things happen as long as she gets what she wants. She's just watching.**

 **Thank you to everyone who gave me ideas for the STR update, and I'm sorry that I can only use a few of them… I suppose that's everything. *hears clattering in the room behind me* What the hell…? I-I'll be back at the end of the chapter, so… enjoy! *walks away from the computer and enters the room behind me***

* * *

"Speech"/ "Different Language"

' _Thought'_

" _Telepathy"_

" _**Shadows"/ "Demons"**_

 **Windows/Skills**

* * *

Yu stared at Dante as he wrote some words in English on the board. ' _What… what the hell?! H-How did he even get this job on such short notice?!'_

Dante smirked as he finished writing the english alphabet. "We're going to start with a review of the basics. The English alphabet seems like a good place to start. Now then… Narukami. Stand up."

Yu narrowed his eyes as he stood.

Dante smirked and spoke in English. "Where does the English alphabet derive from?"

Yu blinked for a minute as he tried to understand exactly what Dante said. Sure, he had learned some English as a child, but he never used it, so… he pretty much forgot everything. "Well… I believe that the English alphabet comes from the Latin alphabet."

Dante nodded and turned back around. "Good. Sit down."

Yu glared at Dante as he sat down. ' _Why are you here Dante…?'_

The man went on with his lecture, when he heard someone mumbling. "…I'm sorry… Do I hear someone talking…?" He turned around, his eyes dead as he scanned the room. He looked at a random student. "You. What did you say…?"

The student stuttered as he was singled out. "U-Umm… excuse me?"

The room went cold as an odd pressure began to press down on everyone.

 **Danger Detected: Source: THAT BADASS IN FRONT OF YOU!**

"What… did… you… say…?" Dante stared the kid in the eyes as the room got colder.

The student gulped nervously. "I-I… I said 'Why is this guy teaching us shit that we already know?'…"

Dante slowly walked over to the student and crouched down to stare him in the eyes. "Well, I assume that you know it all then…huh? Then why don't you tell me the first five letters in the Latin alphabet…? And no. They aren't the same as the English ones." Dante waited for a few moments, then sighed. "I guess you DON'T know everything." He looked at Yu. "Narukami. Same thing. What are the first five letters of the latin alphabet. And stay in your seat for this one."

Yu nodded and kept staring forward. "a… be… ke… de… and e."*

The pressure lightened a bit. "Good." Dante slowly walked back to the desk. "The first five letters in the Latin alphabet are very similar to the English alphabet, but instead of the 26 letters in the first one…" He wrote the Latin alphabet down under the English one. "The Latin alphabet only has 23. And the pronunciation for some of the letters are completely different then the english derivative. The most prominent differences however, are the fact that the two letters J, U, and W were added to the English variant. I would talk about how it was created in Middle Ages, but I'm not your history teacher." He sat down at the desk and then propped his feet up on said desk. "I also don't feel like it."

 **A special skill has been created through a special action! Through the study of linguistics, the skill [Language] has been created!**

 **Language (Passive): LV: Special EXP: Special: The knowledge of other cultures manner of speaking.**

 **Each language has it's own EXP to it, though it's more like a percentage mastered. You currently know three languages.**

 **Japanese: 100% mastered: Can read, write, and speak this language fluently**

 **English(New): 5% mastered: Can read English with extreme difficulty**

 **Latin: 1% mastered: Can recognise letters.**

Yu stared at his new skill. ' _Well, thank you Dante, for being a good teacher. You've given me this skill which will let me understand more things.'_ He then opened his English textbook and began to study because it didn't seem like Dante was going to teach anything else until the next class he went to. He opened his skill again and saw something… new. There was a button next to the name that said 'Track' on it. He pushed the button and something popped up in the top left corner of his vision.

 **Skill Tracking:**

 **This seems pretty self explanatory, but just in case, this is a feature that was added in on the last Gamer. It allows you to track a single skill of your choosing. This allows you to prioritize your skills to see what you need to focus on. You can only track 1 skill at a time, however.**

' _So I can track the progress of a single skill from now on, huh? I suppose that I could track_ _ **[Summon Persona]**_ _for a bit… but I don't really see a use in that. Although_ _ **[Language]**_ … _that could be helpful if I'm trying to read things written in other languages… I guess that I'll just keep that up. And I might as well brush up on my english.'_ Yu shrugged and began reading his English Textbook again. By the end of the class, he had gotten to 8% in that language and it was probably going to rise faster as he began to read faster. It's different than any of his other skills, as it was a mastery system instead of just a straight leveling system on it. ' _I should probably learn the languages from other countries at some point… but I'll just focus on English and Latin. For now.'_ The bell rang and Dante sighed as he walked out of the classroom, casting a quick glance at Yu.

Yosuke walked towards Yu as he recovered from a shudder. "Jeez… what's with that guy? I don't know what it is, but something's telling me that he's dangerous…"

Yu stared at where Dante was. "Trust me Yosuke, he's VERY dangerous." He then berated himself mentally. "I mean, he controls our grades, doesn't he?" Yu then wrote a note and handed it to Yosuke. It said 'To many ears here. Can't go into detail. Tell you more later.'

Yosuke nodded and was about to say something, when Chie ran into the room panting.

Yu looked over at Chie, then remembered something. "Oh yeah, how're you feeling Yosuke?"

"Better, now that Chie's here." Yosuke turned to Chie and rubbed the back of his neck. "Chie… I know that we worried you… and I'm sorry that w-"

"We don't have time for that!" Chie interrupted Yosuke, her voice and face showing urgency. "Has Yukiko showed up for school yet?!"

Yu shook his head. "No, she hasn't. But, I'm sure that she's be fine."

Chie held her head in her hands. "Oh man… this is bad… what should I do…" She then stared Yu in the eyes. "Were you two serious about what you were talking about?! About the Midnight Channel…?"

Yu looked over at Yosuke, who nodded. He looked back into Chie's eyes. "100% serious. We wouldn't joke about death."

Yosuke grew uncharacteristically serious. "We were thinking about checking it out later today."

Chie fidgeted in place. "W-Well… I think that… the person on the TV yesterday was Yukiko…"

' _Yukiko?! But… she's not connected to the first case in any way! Or the second one! Why would the killer target a high schooler that has nothing to do with anything?!'_ "Are you sure Chie?"

Chie nodded. "I wouldn't mistake Yukiko for anyone else. I've been with her since elementary school! I know exactly what she looks like! And besides, the kimono she wore in that one looked exactly like the one she wears at the inn, and she wore the same one during that interview a few days ago!"

"You could make out what she was wearing? All I saw was a silhouette." Yu looked back down at his book and tried to get in the last 2 percent that he wanted. It didn't take to long. ' _Why is it that some people can make out more than others…? This is too weird.'_

Yosuke nodded. "Well, I could make out more then you man. And she WAS wearing a kimono, but… I couldn't tell what color or pattern it had on it."

Chie took a few breaths to try to calm herself down and failed. "I-I got worried so I… emailed her last night, but she hasn't responded! B-But I called her earlier yesterday and s-she said that she'd be here today! I-I…"

Yosuke gently placed his hands on Chie's shoulders. "Calm down… we get the picture. And you still haven't heard from her…?"

Chie shook her head.

Yu closed his eyes and looked at his hands. "Well… we know that if someone is inside of there, that they're in grave danger. If they're inside once it gets foggy, then the shadows will go berserk, and attack anyone in there."

Chie sat down in front of you, staring at him. "Please… don't tell me…"

Yu shrugged. "We don't know anything though, except for that she's either in there, or at the inn, so why don't you give her a call."

Chie nodded and quickly called up Yukiko's cell phone. "… No good…! Her voicemail picked up…"

Yosuke looked very troubled. "Oh man… does that mean that she's really inside that place…?"

Yu was silent. ' _Come on. What am I missing here? Let's see… she's in high school, friends with a dominatrix, even if Chie doesn't know it… She's the temporary manager at the Amagi Inn… There!'_ "Could you try giving the Inn a call? She's filling in for her mother at the moment, so she could just be really busy there."

Chie nodded quickly and called the Inn. "C'mon Yukiko… pick up…!" After a moment, a voice was heard on the other side of the phone. Yu could barely make it out."

"Hello, and thank you for calling the Amagi Inn."

Chie seemed like she was praying for something. "Is Yukiko there?!"

"Ah! Miss Satonaka! Yes, she's here, but sadly she's very busy. It's amazing that one person can handle that much work she's taken on."

Chie nodded with a smile. "O-Okay."

"One moment." The voice faded and then another one came on.

"Chie? Aren't you at school?"

Chie's expression brightened like a fiver year old getting a present that they wanted for Christmas. "Yeah, but it's Lunchtime right now, they can't do anything. Are you okay?"

Yukiko seemed confused from her end of the line. "Y-Yes Chie, I'm fine. A little tired, but that hasn't stopped me before. We just had a really big group reservation today and I needed to help. I'm probably going to be helping out tomorrow too…" There was a pause. "I-I have to get back to work. I'm sorry… I'll see you tomorrow." Yukiko hung up.

Chie sighed in relief. "She's just helping at the Inn… apparently they had this big group reservation come in today, and they needed all the help that they could get." She put away her phone and then visibly relaxed. "She's safe…"

Yosuke looked at Yu. "Were we wrong about the Midnight Channel…?"

Yu shook his head. "If the last two victims were on it, then Yukiko is still in danger. Maybe not from Shadows, but she could still be targeted by someone." ' _Wow. That WIS boost is really helping me look like I know what I'm doing.'_ "We need to stay on our toes. If Yukiko IS kidnapped, we have to go and rescue her. So we just need to be ready." He looked back down at his book. "But until we can get quality weapons, we're stuck waiting, so we should focus on school for now." Yu began studying the language again, his percentage noticeably slowing its rise, like there's a growth curve or something. But it was still rising, which was good.

"Are you sure about that dude? Shouldn't getting stronger be our first priority…?" Yosuke eyed Yu warily.

Yu nodded. "You have a good point there Yosuke, but if we slack in our studies, then people might suspect something. So we need to keep our grades up while we do this." ' _Thank god for TV, or I would never know this.'_ "But if you suddenly have a massive increase in your knowledge of whatever they're teaching here, don't let it show too much."

Chie looked surprised when she stared at Yu. "How do you know all of this…?"

Yu shrugged. "Teenage crime shows. Whenever the leader is caught, it's because they suspected something from his grades slipping." He ignored the stares. "I had a lot of free time at my last school."

"Well… our theory on the Midnight Channel is busted…"

Che looked over at Yosuke. "Am I the only one being left out here?"

Yu nodded at Yosuke.

Yosuke rubbed the back of his neck, then straightened up. "Well, we thought that whoever shows up on the Midnight Channel is already inside of the TV. Makes sense right? People are on the TV because they're inside of the TV. But that's clearly not the case… Maybe we can ask Teddie about it."

Yu closed his book and stood up. "In that case, let's meet up at Junes later today. Right now though…" His face visibly darkened as he slouched over. "We have to get to the soccer field for Phys Ed…" He walked out of the room, all of the energy seemingly sapped out of him.

Chie thought for a minute. "Oh! Is our new P.E teacher that guy in the red jacket?"

Yosuke nodded. "Well, it's actually a duster, but that doesn't matter. He looked like he was picking on Yu for some reason."

Chie nodded. "You noticed that to huh? Well, I'm not sure that we can say anything. At least he's better than some of the 2nd years told us that their teacher for these two classes said. He actually taught us something too, instead of ramble on about their life before squeezing a lesson in that no one will remember."

Yosuke closed his eyes, then shivered. "Still though… he's one scary dude… the way he reacted to someone just saying something about his teaching… I'm pretty sure that half of the class pissed their pants."

Chie looked at where Yu sat. "Yeah, but he didn't have any trouble with it. I wonder why that is."

Yosuke cleared his throat and then stood up abruptly. "W-We should get going. Yu's right, we can't let our grades slip." He walked out of the classroom and towards the soccer field.

' _That was… weird. Yosuke's never done that before.'_

* * *

Yu briskly walked up behind Dante, then pulled him into a barrier. "What the HELL are you doing here Dante?!"

Dante smirked. "Woah! A little feisty today, aren't we?"

Yu activated **[Life Drain]** on Dante. "Tell me…!"

Dante sighed. "Do you really think that that's going to work? I can feel that it's stronger, but it's not good enough."

"No. It isn't." Yu smirked. "But it's annoying as hell though."

"That it is, my student." Dante sighed and then suddenly felt a tiny bit of his strength being sapped from him. "Huh. I actually felt that. You improve fast kid." He hummed and then shrugged. "Alright. I'll tell you."

Yu let go of Dante and shut off the draining skill.

 **[Life Drain] has gained a level!**

 **[Life Drain] has gained a level!**

 **[Life Drain] has gained a level!**

"Now talk." Yu stared up at Dante, trying to look as menacing as he could. It was most likely failing and probably just amusing Dante. ' _That's so convenient. I was almost out of SP there.'_

Dante smirked again. "There's a price for everything kid. A secret for a secret. And you don't have to worry about me saying anything. I have a confidentiality clause for employers. Can't say anything unless you let me."

Yu nodded. "You first, Dante Sparda." Dante's name remained unchanged.

"I didn't even know my dad, so that name means nothing to me. Well, I'm here because I saw it as an opportunity to train you some more. Or at least give you some pointers. It also seemed like a easy way to make some cash, but I didn't think that teaching snot nosed brats was so difficult. I almost killed two of them." Dante closed his eyes for a moment, then looked up at the warped sky. "Your turn kid."

' _What part should I tell him…?'_ "What do you want to know?"

"Your gimmick. Your power. I've never seen anyone improve at the rate you have, not even myself, and that's saying a lot. And don't give me the short end of the stick. I was completely honest with you, so now you have to be honest with me."

"… I walked right into that one, didn't I…?"

"Hey, it hasn't failed me yet."

Yu sighed and then wanted to test something. " **Create Party**."

 **What would you like to name your party?**

' _So it works!'_ " **Devil Hunter**."

 **Party created!**

" **Invite Dante to the party Devil Hunter**."

A blue screen popped up in front of Dante. "… This doesn't tell me anything."

"Just push the 'YES' button."

Dante stared at the screen that said that he had been invited to a party. He shrugged and then tapped the button. "So what the hell wa- … There are words above your head."

 **The Gamer(Dungeon Crafter)**

 **Yu Narukami**

 **LV: 7**

Yu smiled and then sighed. "This is how I live. You see my job above my head, along with… maybe a title, my name, and something that says 'LV: 7' right?"

Dante nodded dumbly.

"Well, that's pretty much it unless you can do other things." Yu looked up at Dante's name to see if anything had changed.

 **Heir to the Black Knight**

 **Dante**

 **LV: 200**

' _Aaaand there goes my dreams of surpassing him in this lifetime. Until I find a better way to train anyways.'_ Yu looked at his skills idly and saw that his **[Elemental Enhancement]** had gained another level.

Dante stared at Yu and then sighed. "Your power makes you live in a video game, doesn't it?"

Yu fell backwards from shock. "H-How…?"

"I play a lot of video games. Most are boring, but the online ones help to pass the time. Especially when I can bug the living hell out of new players…" A dark aura surrounded Dante. "And… from what I'm seeing… _**You're a new player!**_ "

 **You feel a dangerous presence in front of you.**

' _No shit!'_ Yu slowly began to scoot away from Dante. "D-Dante? You okay?"

" _ **I'm just fine! I think that I just found a new way to entertain myself though!"**_ Dante was about to pick Yu up, but then turned his head. "We got company."

Yu looked over and saw a mass of demons charging towards them. He got up and was about to grab his golf club when Dante shook his head.

"You'll just slow me down. Get out and wait for class to start." Dante tore open the barrier, which didn't really show anything, and threw Yu out of it.

Yu landed on his ass and then looked around to see if there was anyone here. ' _Good. No one's here.'_ He stood up, dusted himself off, and quickly equipped his gym clothes. " **Party** " A blue window popped up he saw his and Dante's names on there. Dante's HP bar, well it didn't budge. The numbers did, but the bar itself? Nothing. Which meant that either he just had a TON of health, or that he had a healing factor. Or both, but that would be a little impractical. Yu also saw a little microphone on the top right of the window that he assumed was for voice chat. He shook his head and closed the window. "How did I fall for that…?"

"Fall for what cutie?"

Yu jumped out of his skin and turned around to see a girl with pink hair behind him.

 **?**

 **Lolikano Mistream**

 **LV: ?**

' _Another person that is out of my league.'_ "O-Oh, I didn't see you there. Well, my… acquaintance and I made a deal that I got the short end of." He was really glad that he had **[Gamer's Mind]** otherwise he probably would've attacked just as a reaction. "So… I've never seen you around here before. Care to tell me why you're here?"

Lolikano giggled. "Well, this is Yasogami right?"

Yu nodded.

"Weeeeell, I'm the new European History teacher!"

' _Okay, that's it, I'm fucking calling Mitsuru. Two extremely powerful people become teachers on the same day?! One would be kinda understandable, but two?! No.'_ "Really? You look a little young to be a teacher."

The woman faked a blush and then became flirty. "Thanks for the compliment, but I'm sure that I could teach you a thing or two~~~~"

' _What. The. HELL?!'_ Yu cleared his throat as he looked away. "W-Well… I look forward to you teaching me Sensei. But shouldn't you get to work?"

"My job doesn't start until Monday~ So we have a little time before your next class~~~ Oh! And it's going to rain, so it's probably going to be in the gym, so you have some time before your teacher realizes that it's going to be a closed in class~~~" Lolikano saw Yu's blush grow larger. "Then again, that's unprofessional, stealing you away from another teacher~" She fake pouted. "I suppose that I'll just have to wait until Monday to give you a _hands on_ lesson~~~"

Yu blinked, then stared her in the eyes, his blush fading. "Is it really this fun to tease people like you are? You aren't naturally a flirty person, so why are you doing this?"

"How do you know that handsome~~~?"

Yu's stare became deadpan. "Because you aren't accentuating your more… intimate… body parts enough to be someone like that. You also don't dress like someone like that would, so… yeah."

Lolikano blinked, and then started laughing hard enough to buckle over. "O-Oh my god! I-I-I couldn't ke-e-eep it in!" She laughed even harder and then fell onto her side.

Yu stared at her, then walked towards the gym. He saw Yosuke walking towards him and Yu just shook his head. "Class is in the gym. It's going to rain." Thunder boomed seemingly to confirm what Yu said. "We may want to hurry."

Yosuke stared at the woman laughing hard on the ground. "Bu-"

"Just ignore her." Yu started walking faster, trying to distance himself from the deadly person that was ALSO one of his teachers.

Yosuke nodded after a minute and followed Yu.

* * *

Gym class didn't go as badly as Yu thought that it would. Dante showed up ten minutes late, and it turns out that he knows the limits of normal teenagers already, so while everyone else was catching their breath after the warm-ups, Yu had been studying his English for about 5 minutes. He also finally got a point in INT for reading again. Though because of that, he had to stay after class, which also happened to be the last class of the day, lucky for him, or at least the last class that really mattered, so his group could just skip that class to go do more important things. Especially lucky because it was the weekend.

Dante waited for all of the squishy teens to file out of the gym before walking over to Yu. "So… about this power of yours… You said that it turns your life into a video game?"

Yu nodded with a groan.

Dante nodded in thought. "Does that mean that I don't have to worry about holding back when I train you?"

Yu nodded again.

The half devil smirked evilly. "Good." He dragged Yu into a barrier and then threw him through the school, breaking all the walls that he could.

 **HP: 283/400**

Yu quickly switched his skill tracker over to **[Physical Endurance]** so that he could see just how fast it could level.

 **[Elemental Enhancement] has gained a level!**

 **[Physical Endurance] has gained a level!**

' _Well, that answers that question.'_ He summoned Izanagi and then used his Persona to send himself flying back towards Dante. He drew his golf club and sacrificed his wind armor to enhance his weapon. He clashed with Dante's blade for a single moment before Rebellion cut through the golf club.

"You really have to get yourself some better weapons kid." Dante tossed a pair of pistols to Yu that weren't his own. "Catch."

Yu barely caught the guns and he **Observed** them.

 **.45 Colt 1911**

 **A modified version of the semi automatic .45 Colt 1911.**

 **This has been modified for training purposes to shoot blanks. Or BBs.**

 **Fully loaded extended clip 20/20**

 **REQ: 10 DEX**

The same description was on the other one. Yu pointed the barrels at Dante and fired them at the same time, expecting him to dodge. Instead, Dante caught the BB's that shot out of them.

"Keep shooting."

Yu nodded and kept firing at Dante.

 **A special skill has been created through a special action. Through repeated usage of this weapon, the skill [Pistol Mastery] has been created!**

 **Pistol Mastery** **(Passive): LV: 1 EXP: 0.00%: Through constant practice, you have begun to master the basics of pistol usage.**

 **\+ 10% accuracy when using pistols**

 **\+ 5% Critical Hit chance when using pistols**

 **\+ 5% damage dealt when using pistols**

Yu looked at the two weapons in his hand again and pulled the triggers again. There was a soft 'click' from both of them.

Dante chuckled and took the guns back from the kid. "So, why'd you pause the second time?" He took on a mocking tone. "Did you get a skill for guns?"

Yu nodded as he began to look through his skills.

"… Wait. Really?"

"Uh huh." Yu turned to the right and started to launch multiple **[Zio]** spells at something while he activated his defensive skill again. He kept training the skill until Dante finally finished processing what he had heard.

Dante cleared his throat and then watched Yu throw spells. "So… any other skills that I should know about?"

Yu looked back at Dante and sighed. "Do you have a pen and some paper?"

Dante tossed him a pen and a notepad. "Trish makes me carry this."

"What is she, your mother?"

"… That's… still a grey area. She's a demon who LOOKS like my mother, but has none of her memories so… I guess not." Dante rubbed his neck. "I don't like to talk about it."

Yu deadpanned as he wrote down a list of skills for Dante too look at. He also wrote down his stats. "Crazy… Can't imagine having your mother attack you out of the blue for no apparent reason."

Dante groaned and stared at Yu. "What the hell is your problem with YOUR parents? I mean, mine was a devil who fell in love with a human and made me and my brother, and because of that I'm a constant target for demons. But you don't seem to have any reason to hate yours. _I_ don't hate my parents."

Yu looked at Dante and handed him the list. "Here. I left out the descriptions so that I could fit my stats on there." Yu launched another **[Zio]** and it leveled up. It looked pretty useful now.

 **[Elemental Enhancement] has gained a level!**

Dante hummed for a bit, then punched Yu through the building again.

 **HP: 100/400**

"How much did that drain your… 'HP'?" Dante rolled his wrist for a second.

Yu groaned as he stood up. "Exactly 300…"

Dante nodded as he tested Rebellion's weight. He then smirked and threw his claymore at Yu at breakneck speeds.

Yu barely had time to dodge out of the way of the oversized blade as it imbedded itself into the bricks. He sighed and stared at Dante. "Do you want me to try and use Rebellion?"

Dante nodded.

Yu sighed again and grabbed the blade with both hands. With a lot of difficulty, he was able to barely pull it out of the bricks and turn to Dante, the magical blade shaking violently. Yu mentally berated himself for letting his little trick slip his mind and **Observed** Rebellion

 **Rebellion**

 **This blade is the heirloom of The Black Knight Sparda, which was passed down to his son. Unlike its sibling ?, this blade has no demonic properties and is purely magical. It has been adapted for both one handed and two handed usage.**

 **500 - 2000 slashing damage**

 **Tears through all magical or demonic defences**

 **?**

 **REQ: 50 STR**

Yu looked at the question marks and then set Rebellion down with an audible sigh of relief.

"What's the matter kid? Can't handle Rebellion?"

Yu shook his head slowly as he panted. "That blade takes 50 STR to use. I could barely lift it."

Dante chuckled as he walked over and lifted the claymore with ease. "Not surprising. Took me years before I could finally use this bad boy." He placed Rebellion onto his back and then rummaged through his jacket. "Well, I got you this last night, seeing as you need a new sword." Dante pulled out a sheathed katana from his jacket and tossed it to Yu.

Yu caught it with slight difficulty, seeing as it was a real blade and most likely much heavier then that fake one he stole. He **Observed** this blade as well.

 **Katana (Sealed)**

 **The traditional blade of the samurai. ?**

 **25 - 40 slashing damage**

 **\+ 10% Crit chance**

 **100% durability**

 **REQ: 15 STR**

"Still nowhere near as good as mine, but hey, it's better then that toothpick you were carrying around." Dante smirked as he saw Yu gaze at the blade.

Yu looked up at Dante and smiled softly. "Thanks. I'm sure that I'm going to put this to good use, even if I don't want to." He wanted to wear it around town, but he couldn't risk arousing suspicion, so he slipped it into his **Inventory** and then pulled up his stat screen. He dumped two points into STR, bringing it up to the requirement needed for his new blade.

"You just got stronger. What the hell did you just do?"

"The katana has a STR requirement of 15, so I just brought mine up to match it."

Dante stared at him for a second. "… Huh… That's gonna take some getting used to… Oh well. Not the weirdest thing that I've ever heard of. That was me having black hair and my mother being an angel." He then had a thought. "Wait, if you can raise your stats, then why haven't you dumped all of them into something?"

Yu checked his phone and then quickly put it away. "Because I'm assuming that I won't get much of them. But I have to go. I'll see you tonight for our hunt." He exited the barrier and ran off towards Junes.

Dante smirked as he watched Yu leave. "… That kid's gonna be eaten alive in the real world."

* * *

Yu stood in front of the TV, waiting for Yosuke and Chie to show up. It didn't take long for Chie to show up, but Yosuke took a while for whatever reason. While they waited for Yosuke, Yu had explained what happened yesterday, omitting the details of Yosuke's deepest, darkest secrets.

Chie just stared. A lot of people were doing that today. "So, Yosuke has his own Shadow?"

"Had. I defeated it." Yu wasn't sure that he wanted to tell Chie about the topic of Persona just yet. She seemed to jump to conclusions a lot. "So… yeah. That was what happened inside of the TV while we worried you to death."

"Sorry I'm late! My dad needed me to do something in the back." Yosuke walked up to the two and stared at the TV.

"Well, if I hadn't seen that place with my own eyes, I would've never believed a story like that."

Yosuke looked confused. "What were you two talking about?"

"Oh, I was just giving her a brief recap of what happened yesterday. I wanted to save the details for you. Because, you know. It was your Shadow, and your secrets."

Yosuke looked relieved. "Thanks man… I don't think that I'm ready to talk about it though." He cleared his throat and then tried to look serious, but after a few seconds, he lost composure and smiled. "I-I gotta ask! How is it that you look so serious all the time?"

Yu blinked owlishly. "… Do I really look serious all the time?"

Chie nodded silently, afraid that she would start laughing if she said anything.

Yu stared at the two of them, then sighed, clearly annoyed. " _Anyways_ … we need to know what's going on inside."

It took a few moments, but Chie was able to calm down enough to say something. "H-How? By talking Yosuke's shoulders began to shake. "Y-Y-You mean that you didn't know?!"

to that bear thing?"

Yosuke took even longer to compose himself. "Y-Yeah! To bad that there are so many people around… I forgot that there was a sale in the electronics department today." He looked pained as he thought. It was probably just his thinking face. "I got it!" He walked over to one side of the TV. "Well, come over here."

Yu looked skeptical, but walked over to Yosuke anyways. "So what's your idea?"

"Well, first, I think that we should at least exchange phone numbers, just in case something shows up tonight." Yosuke pulled his phone out and was ready to input Yu's number.

Yu nodded at the idea and pulled out his phone so that they could trade numbers.

As soon as they put their phones away, Yosuke looked behind him at the mother and child looking at the TVs. He leaned closer to Yu so that he could whisper to him. "Why don't you stick your hand in there and call him over here?"

Yu looked behind him and saw a couple walking through the electronics section, just glancing at the TVs. "I assume that there's more to this then just that."

Yosuke nodded and then beckoned Chie over. Once she walked over to them, Yosuke started talking again. "Okay, Chie, you go stand on the other side of the TV. We're going to make a wall so that people don't know what's going on."

Chie has a questioning look on her face. "But won't other people see if they look at us from any other direction?"

Yu shook his head. "They probably won't be able to get a clear view, so they'll just assume that they were just seeing things."

Yosuke nodded. "Exactly, but, how do you know that Yu?"

"Late night supernatural crime shows. There isn't much to do in Iwatodai if you aren't visiting." Yu stood in front of the TV and acted like he examined the screen for anything at all.

Chie groaned and then stood on the other side of the TV. "This isn't going to work…"

Yu stuck his hand inside of the TV, causing white ripples to form around his hand. "Teddie…? Are you there? We need to talk to you." After a moment, when nothing happened, Yu felt a stinging pain in his hand.

 **HP: 397/400**

He pulled his hand back in shock and then flicked his hand, wincing slightly for effect.

Chie grew concerned and leaned forward. "Are you okay? A-Are those bite marks?"

Yu nodded and shoved his hand into his pocket to hide the fact that the bite marks disappeared. "That wasn't very nice Teddie. Are you sure that I can be your Sensei if you disrespect me like that…?

The TV began to ripple as a slightly static-y voice came out of it. "I-I'm 'bear'y Sensei! But to be fair, your hand just came out of nowhere!"

Yosuke looked sick. "D-Did he just make a pun…?"

Yu stifled a chuckle, knowing that he would lose all credibility if he laughed at THAT. "Don't worry about it Teddie. I just need to know if there's anyone in there with you besides the Shadows. Oh, and I won't be able to come in today. People might see."

"Well, there's no one in here with me, at least not from your world. But what's the matter with people seeing you?"

Yu sighed. "Right. You don't understand that yet. Well, think of it this way. If you were on our side and completely oblivious to that world, what would you think if you saw someone climb into a TV and into another world?"

"I would think it would be so cool!"

Chie's brow furrowed. "Is he a kid…?"

Yu shrugged. "Well, could you check again really quickly? I'm not doubting you, but you could be mistaken, depending on how long ago you last checked."

Teddie seemed to consider the request. "Hmm… okay Sensei! Just give me a minute!" The ripples on the screen went away.

Yu tapped his foot to pass the time, not even knowing how Teddie learned that phrase. Or how he talked. Or how he even existed.

 **!Quest Alert!**

 **A 'Bear'y fine mystery!**

 **Primary objective: Discover what Teddie is!**

 **Secondary objective: Get Teddie's WIS stat to 25 before he figures out for himself!**

 **Hidden objective**

 **Primary Reward: + 10 INT**

 **Secondary Reward: +10 WIS**

 **Hidden Reward**

 **Failure: All unknown knowledge of Shadows lost**

 **Do you accept this Quest?**

 **[YES/NO]**

Yu eyed the quest carefully, before accepting it. ' _The terms of the objectives and rewards change a lot.'_

 **Do not question me!**

' _... Are you a person?'_ When there was no response, Yu shrugged it off as another joke that his notifications play on him sometimes.

"There's no one but me and the Shadows in here right now Sensei! Are you worried that it might change?"

Yu nodded, then almost slapped himself. Teddie couldn't see him. "Yes, I am Teddie. I might be wrong, but if we save someone who's thrown in there, then we might be able to get a glimpse of the killer." He then pulled one of those health bars out of his pocket and pushed it into the TV. "Here you go Ted. If you don't like it, I could bring you something else when I visit." He felt the bar being taken out of his hand and a gnawing sound.

"I… I can't seem to eat this Sensei."

Yu sweatdropped as he pulled his hand out of the screen. "You have to take the wrapping of of it first…"

"Oh." Some rustling was heard, and then loud chewing was heard through the TV. "Wow! So this is food!"

Yu suddenly felt a chill go down his spine. "T-Ted, you might want to step away from whatever you're using to talk to us. I visit you tomorrow, but right now, we have to go!" That last bit was more directed to Yosuke and Chie.

"What? Why dude?"

"Do you really want to deal with Sparda-sensei after school?" Yu turned to look at Yosuke, and watched all of the color drain from his face.

Yosuke started shivering in fear for some reason. "Yep! We gotta go Ted! Seeya!" Yosuke ran off in a hurry, wanting to distance himself from Dante as much as possible."

"W-Wait for me Yosuke!" Chie ran off after the brown haired boy and then Yu sighed.

"I know that wasn't Dante… so what the hell?" He walked towards the clothing section and walked into a changing room. He searched for cameras, because there are some people that would do that to innocent women. When he found none, he entered a barrier and waited for something to happen. He was not disappointed when Dante break through the walls of the changing room and wave. Yu peaked at where Dante had been thrown from and saw a giant demon. "… Huh. So it was you Dante. And that demon."

Dante got up and dusted himself off. "Yep. And I need you to slow it down."

"Why…?"

Dante conjured Nevan and stared right at the demon as the guitar transformed into a scythe. "Because usually I have Trish deal with these guys, but she's busy. They're weak to electricity, so… yeah. Time to get going!" He picked Yu up and tossed him towards the demon.

"Asshole!" Yu yelled back at Dante as he summoned Izanagi. He sent Izanagi towards the demon, and used his **[Elemental Enhancement]** to give his Persona an edge on the demon. Izanagi clashed against the demons dual cleavers. Yu had to use a **[Garu]** to slow himself down enough to not run into Izanagi. He then **Observed** the demon.

 **Demonic Construct**

 **Agonofinis**

 **LV: 10**

 **HP: 1000/1000**

 **SP: 0/0**

 **STR: 15**

 **VIT: 40**

 **DEX: 5**

 **INT: 3**

 **WIS: 1**

 **LUK: 1**

 **An Iron gibbet possessed by a lesser demon of agony. Drawn to the human criminal's suffering, it takes control of both the skeleton and the cage.**

Yu ran behind the demon and hit it in the back with a **[Zio]**. "Why are you having problems with this?!"

The Agonofinis shuddered as another one formed right behind it.

Dante pointed. "That's why."

Yu drew his Katana from his **Inventory** and it was instantly sparking. He went for the first one and used a **[Cleave]** on its legs. It didn't do much, but it distracted it enough for Izanagi to strike it in the chest, sending it into the air. Yu dodged out of the way of the second one and struck its wrist with **[Cleave]** , trying to disarm one of its cleavers. All it did was enrage the demon, causing Yu to get slapped aside and into a wall. He quickly recovered and tried to rush the second demon, when he collapsed. He looked to where Izanagi was and saw wisps of blue disappearing.

 **SP: 0/400**

Yu slowly rose to his feet, only to collapse again. "Dammit… I got cocky…" ' _And now I'm… going to die from it…'_

Dante looked at Nevan and then at the demons. "Why the hell aren't you working with me Nevan?!"

" _Just wait, Son of Sparda."_

One of the demons lumbered over to Yu and then raised it's cleaver menacingly.

Yu stared up at the demon and closed his eyes accepting his fate.

"Nevan! He's going to die!"

" _Wait Dante!"_

Yu's eyes glinted viciously as he opened them and stared up at the demon. They became a cold blue. " **No."** He caught the cleaver and slowly rose from his knees, metal creaking and cracking. " **I refuse to die."**

 **You have gained the status:** **Adrenal Rage**

 **You have gained the perk:** **Indomitable Will**

 **You have gained the skill: [Mana Efficiency]**

 **Mana Efficiency** **(Passive): LV:MAX: A rare trait for most to master, most spending decades attempting to manipulate Mana in any way.**

 **You now have access to all forms of skills**

 **All SP and SP costs are transmuted into MP**

Yu scowled as a ring of blue energy surrounded the ground around his feet and wisps of the same blue energy rose from the ring. " **You'll pay."** He kicked the demon where it's chest would be, breaking its hand off of it. Yu looked at the hand on the cleaver and pried it off. He looked back towards the demon and he flipped the cleaver in the air, catching it by its handle. Yu rushed the demon and sliced its other arm off with the giant blade. He then chopped off the Agonofinis's legs, making it immobile. Yu looked down at it and then swung the cleaver down with both hands, executing one of the demons. He turned towards the other demon and threw the weapon in his hands at it as hard as he could. The blade embedded itself into the metal cage around the skeleton, while the impact of it forced it to the ground.

Yu walked over to the demon, holding his Katana menacingly. He stepped out of the way of a giant cleaver swinging down from behind him. Yu cracked his knuckles as he made a fist and hit the demon's skull through the metal, stunning it. He then took one of the pipes that were broken and scattered from the ruins of Junes and stabbed it into the eye socket of the Agonofinis and clean through the back of the skull. Yu turned back towards the pinned demon and dashed towards him, not wanting to delay this any longer. He placed a foot on top of the gibbet and then drove his blade through the skull of the demon, killing it and making the skeleton and the cage fade into black smoke. Yu turned back to Dante, and passed out before he could do anything else.

 **Status:** **Adrenal Rage** **has worn off.**

* * *

Yu slowly opened his eyes to see that he was in a blue limo with four other people staring at him. ' _This place again…'_

Igor looked right in Yu's eyes with that ominous grin. "Welcome to the Velvet Room." He crossed his hands above the table. "It seems that your power has taken an interesting turn, and as such, our role here adapts. For now, it is time to reveal to you how we will assist you through your journey." He then waved his hand over the empty space above the table to reveal a singular card that had flames on opposite side. "This is what we call a 'Skill Card'. We are running horribly low on them, as the guest before our last had used nearly our entire supply to her advantage." The card faded. "What we can do with them is we can forge skill books out of a certain number of them. You might not be able to utilize the ones that you have already, but I'm sure that your friends will be able to once you share the details of your power with them. In fact, you have already shared it with someone, haven't you? The man named 'Dante Sparda'."

Elizabeth giggled at the name, then held her head in pain.

Yu looked over at the younger looking of the two white haired women. "Is… she okay?"

Margaret noddded. "She is fine, though she had a little too much to drink earlier." She adjusted her dress and shifted her position. "Allow me to explain the significance of these skill cards." She appeared a card that had a lightning storm on the other side of it. "These cards, while usually used to teach your Personae new abilities, have been adapted to your use. Instead of teaching your Personae abilities, we have changed it to where they are a one time use spell." The card burst into flames and lightning struck the ground in front of Yu. "You can obtain these cards by hunting down Shadows."

Yu groaned. "Great. I was hoping to avoid those things as much as humanly possible…"

Margaret chuckled softly. "However, that isn't the only thing that these card can do. You may combine and 'upgrade' them, in your terms, to form new, and quite possibly better spells. For example, if you fuze Agi and Bufu cards together, you get the spell Aqua. Elizabeth, if you will?"

Elizabeth nodded and glyphs slowly formed in the air. Two cards floated up from nothing and rested on the glyphs, their respective elements facing Yu. She took a deep breath and the glyphs flashed before the cards both shattered into blue shards. The shards spun around each other, forming a helix shape. The two separate flows of shards suddenly rushed back down to the now singular glyph, crashing into each other and forming a card shape as they descended. The now transparent card floated down onto the glyph and in a flash of light, the transparent card showed the element of water in its weakest state. Elizabeth panted heavily as the card floated over towards Igor and faded.

Igor chuckled at the reaction Yu had to the fusion. "That is only Elizabeth's role here in this room. My role, is to create new Personae for you to utilize."

Yu blinked, then rubbed his eyes. "I-I'm sorry, did you just say that you could create new Personas?"

Igor nodded. "That's right. Unlike most Persona wielders, you are of a more unique kind."

Margaret waited for a look from Igor to continue his explanation. "You possess the power of the Wild Card, and as such, you possess the power to have multiple Personae at a time. Currently, your limit is four, but that should change as your psyche heals and strengthens itself. My role here is to record every Persona that you have ever had, or have. As we cannot see your future, we have no clue how many Personae your soul has hidden inside of it."

Yu looked to the right and saw the girl from the station wearing a blue hat and wearing a blue tote bag. "Hey, you were at the station. What are you doing here?"

Marie looked up at Yu and then looked at Igor. "I was brought here by some masked guy to do a job for The Nose."

Yu had to cover his mouth to try and stay respectful.

Igor sighed. "I almost forgot to introduce you to our newest resident. This is Marie. She will be staying with us through the course of your journey. Her role is to assist Elizabeth, and record every single skill card that you bring to us. As well as the ones that you request for spell fusions and creation for spell books."

"So… she just keeps stock on your cards?"

Margaret nodded. "Essentially. However, you will be waking up in the real world soon."

Igor held his hand out and a blue key with a butterfly at the end of it appeared above it. "Next time we meet, it will be of your own accord." He made a pushing motion and the key floated over to Yu, who caught it. "Until we meet again, farewell."

Spots of white slowly appeared in Yu's field of vision, and he was quickly blinded by the lack of reality,

* * *

Yu groaned as he opened his eyes. They were grey once again. He looked around and saw that he was in his room. "What the-"

"Lay back down kid." Dante sipped at a strawberry milkshake with his legs crossed while he stared at Yu. "Oh, while you're waking up, I looked on your laptop and couldn't find any porn on there. So what the hell? You're a teenager, aren't you?"

Yu groaned again, this time in annoyance when he heard Dante's voice. "Why were you looking through that?"

"I had time to kill. But seriously, lack of porn. How is that possible?" Dante closed the laptop and looked at the grey haired teenager expectantly.

Yu stared back at Dante silently for a few minutes. " … You aren't going to let this go, are you?"

"Not a chance."

Yu sighed and then looked at the skill window for **[Rengoku]**. "Say Dante… do you want to hunt something new? I mean, I still haven't dissolved the party, so we'd both probably benefit from it."

Dante nodded slowly and then smirked. "Is the fifty-fifty split on the cash still the deal?"

Yu nodded and selected the Shadow dungeon.

 **This dungeon can only be opened at Midnight!**

He then sighed. "How about tomorrow? It says that I can only create the barrier at midnight."

Dante groaned. "Fine. But it's almost midnight, so maybe your power will let you do it a few minutes early…?"

Yu looked at the window in thought. "Maybe… but it seems to be very exact on the numbers." He then looked at the clock to see that it was, in fact, nearly midnight. Yu turned off the lights and then stood in front of the TV for a while. After a few minutes, the TV turned on to show Yukiko in a frilly pink wedding dress, standing in front of what looked like a castle.

"Good evening~!" Yukiko stared right at Yu, almost like she was looking at a camera. "Tonight, Princess Yukiko has a big surprise!" The camera cut to the left side of her face. "I'm gonna go score myself a hot stud~!" The camera angle changed again. This time showing off her right side entirely. "Welcome to 'Not a Dream, Not a Hoax. Princess Yukiko's Hunt for her Prince Charming!' And I came prepared~!" The camera then showed off her breasts for some reason. "I've got my lacy unmentionables on, stacked from top to bottom!" The camera angle changed again to show her looking at the camera from an angle. "I'm out to catch a whole harem and the best of the lot is gonna be all mine~!" She turned around and looked at the camera from behind. "Well, here I go!" The camera changed one last time to show Yukiko running into a European style castle.

Yu just stared as the TV faded to black. "…What…the…hell."

Dante just nodded. "Yep. That's not really the best way to shoot a show, but the acting was amazing for someone who most likely doesn't act that way at all."

"How did y-"

"Your reaction says it all."

Yu glared at Dante. "Just stop doing that. Please." His phone started ringing. "And be quiet." He picked up and heard Yosuke.

"H-Hey, did you see that?!"

Yu looked at the phone. "Yeah. I did." Before Yu could get anything else out, Yosuke started talking again.

"That was Yukiko-san for sure! I-It looked like her, I mean, she even said her name! But… didn't the stuff she was saying sound weird?! And… it…it looked like she was on some kind of low-budget TV show… was it like this before too…?"

"No, it wasn't. I don't think that it had a chance to make a show like this. Because those two were killed on the same night that they were thrown in."

"That kinda makes sense… but what the hell is going on…?"

Yu thought for a second. "Try to call Chie. If you can, try to calm her down. She has to be freaking out about this worse then either of us."

Yosuke paused for a bit. "Right. She was closer to her then either of us. I'll give her a call and we'll think of a plan." He paused again, like he was checking something. "Tomorrow's Sunday, so let's meet up at Junes first thing in the morning."

Yu nodded a bit. "Alright, I'll meet you there. Just don't rush things, okay? We have to act like nothing's wrong at all, okay?"

"Of course. See you tomorrow." Yosuke hung up and the phone just held the dial tone.

Yu sighed and closed his phone. "Well… I have some time to kill, let's see if you were right Dante." He selected the Shadow dungeon again and tried to create it.

 **This dungeon can only be created at midnight!**

"Well, I was right. It has to be exactly at midnight for it to work. I wonder why…" Yu looked outside his window and decided to open up a zombie dungeon. "Well, for now, you want to go slaughter some zombies?"

Dante set down his third drink and stretched a bit. "Sure. I'm game. How are we doing this?"

"Mass slaughter. Kill as many as you can before the boss shows up, kill that and then we can do some nightly training." Yu opened up a window and stepped onto the roof.

Dante stared at the kid. "You know that I have to sleep right…?"

"And I'm sure that you do that after school when you have literally nothing to do when I'm not around. Now come on." He jumped off the roof, landing on one of the zombies.

Dante groaned as he stood up. "I'm starting to regret this…" He jumped out the window and began to slaughter zombies with Yu.

* * *

Yu sat down at the table he, Chie, and Yosuke sat at last time, sipping at a drink. He then pulled out his phone and called Mitsuru.

"This is Kirijo."

Yu glared at the phone. "Do you know about someone named 'Lolikano Mistream'?"

Mitsuru seemed to hesitate. "Yes. I hired her to look after you."

"And did you tell her to register as a teacher at Yasogami…?"

Mitsuru groaned and Yu could almost see her facepalm. "Honestly… I told her that she could meet you… but a teacher…?"

Yu nodded. "Yep. Apparently she starts tomorrow. And what's even worse is that someone else stronger then her is my Phys. Ed teacher."

"Who is it?" Yu could feel the sense of urgency in her voice.

"Dante Sparda. Apparently he got called here for a job and took an interest in me when I was dragged into a battle with him and a horde of demons."

Mitsuru groaned again, and some scribbling was heard on the other end of the line. "Do you want me to take care of it…? Because I can easily-"

"Kirijo-san, you don't have to worry about it. I've actually hired him to train me for the time being. Because if this Shadow Black Ops thing is as dangerous as I think it is, then I'll need all of the training that I can get." Yu glanced to his right. "I have to go. Something's come up. I'll update you on the situation here as you see fit." He hung up and then put his phone away.

Yosuke walked up to Yu, holding something behind his back. "Good, you came." He looked around for a second. "Chie isn't here yet?"

Yu shrugged and kept sipping at his drink. He hadn't been looking, if he was going to be honest with himself.

Yosuke shook his head. "That's fine. But I was thinking, about Friday. We didn't have any weapons back then right?"

Yu slowly nodded as he set his drink down. ' _What did you do Yosuke…?'_

"Well check out these babies!" Yosuke suddenly revealed a katana and a chef's knife from behind his back. "Cool right? With these, we'll be able to take those things down in no time!"

Yu shot out of his seat and stared at Yosuke. "Are you crazy?! Why would you bring these here?! IN an open food court with police everywhere! They're going to get the wrong idea, we'll be arrested, and we won't be able to rescue Yukiko!"

Yosuke blinked for a moment, then paled. "Y-You're right. It just felt like the thing to do! Just show you the weapons and then you can pick one."

Yu pulled out his phone. "You could've just sent me a picture of them and I could've pi-" He looked past Yosuke and saw a police officer walking towards them. "Aw shit."

"You! Drop the weapons and put your hands on your head!"

Yosuke was about to turn around, when Yu stopped him. "Just set them down. I got this, okay?"

Yosuke stared at Yu, then nodded as he set the weapons down.

"Honestly Yosuke! If you wanted to get measurements for your cosplay, you could've just looked up katanas online! And samurai didn't have knives as their second weapon!" Yu walked out from behind Yosuke, shaking his head. "Officer, I'm so sorry for the misunderstanding, Yosuke here is just kind of impulsive sometimes and doesn't stop to think about how suspicious it would look if a teenager was waving bladed weapons around in a food court!" He sighed and shook his head. "You can take the weapons if you'd like, but I have a feeling that you'll have to deal with the manager of Junes chewing you out for taking his property without a warrant. Then there's the backlash on the department as a whole… Trust me, it's better to just let this act slide so that my friend here can go put them back, like he was going to do after they got cleaned."

The police officer stared at Yu. "So you mean that he stole them…?"

Yu chuckled and shook his head. "It would seem that way, but no. Yosuke here is the manager's son, so he has a job here. He was asked to take these in the back to get them cleaned."

"And how do you know this…?"

"He told me that he wanted to show me what he'd base his costumes weapons off of first. Like I said, he's very impulsive sometimes."

 **[Deception] has gained a level!**

 **[Deception] has gained a level!**

' _And I passed.'_

The police officer nodded slowly and then took his hand away from his gun. "Alright then. You two stay out of trouble."

"We will officer, thank you." Yu bowed slightly as the police officer walked away. He then groaned as he stood up. "You should really go put those back now Yosuke. I bought us some time, but if he comes back and we still have them, then he'll know that something's up."

"How did you-"

"TV. And some classes in beginners psychology. Just… please hurry. We can't draw any more attention to ourselves."

Yosuke nodded and picked the weapons up. "Thanks for saving my ass."

"No problem, that's what friends are for." Yu walked back over to the table and sat down. "Oh, and I think that I would use a katana!"

Yosuke nodded and ran back into the department store.

Yu sipped at his drink and saw a text from Mitsuru.

'I want a full explanation of your situation ASAP.'

Yu sighed and responded. 'Understood.' He closed his phone again and started thanking his powers for keeping him calm as he lied to that police officer's face. "What is going on with my life?"

"I think that you're too young to worry about stuff like that!"

Yu looked behind him to see Lolikano staring at him. "Mistream-sensei. What are you doing here?"

Lolikano giggled and held up a drink. "I'm just going around town and trying the foods so that I know where to eat! Honestly, the shopping district has much better food then this place."

Yu sighed as he closed his eyes. "I know that you're new here, and you probably want to do a lot, but if you don't mind Sensei, could I just be alone for a bit…?"

Lolikano nodded. "Of course! After all, it's not easy to keep a straight face when you're lying through your teeth!" She hummed a bit as she walked off.

Yu opened his eyes and looked up at the sky. "…Why me? Out of everybody in the world, why me? I have no problem with saving people, but I didn't asked to be dragged into… all of this. So, why me?"

 **Because you got lucky!**

"Thanks for the answer, but I think that I'm more unlucky right now."

 **Then increase your LUK stat while you wait!**

Yu nodded and started flipping a coin to raise his stat. It was really the only thing that he COULD do and not look even more out of place then he already did with grey eyes. And so he just waited for Yosuke to come back.

 **Jackpot! +1 LUK**

' _I know that it fits with luck, but usually they match the situation as well…'_

 **I SAID DO NOT QUESTION ME!**

' _So you ARE a person!'_ He got no response for that thought. Yu shook his head and kept flipping the coin. This week is going to be the most exciting week of his life. And the most horrifying. But he knew that. He knew all too well what he had gotten himself into, and he was forced to play his role for now. He just needed to wait. ' _Wow, that WIS stat really DOES let me know what I'm doing. Maybe I should just focus on that for a bit after this…'_

* * *

*Pronunciation of the latin alphabet

 **Hey again! Turns out that clattering was just Mew trying to get some cookies. Now what do I**

 **say… oh! I wanted to ask all of you if I should write my own book at some point! Can't say that it would be that good, but I'd try. As of now though I'll wait for you guys to tell me. So the poll… It looks like people love the idea of the Harem route that this story could take, and some of you actually voted for non-cannon characters, which I am so happy about! I didn't want to stick with just characters from Persona 4 as options there, so I'm happy that some people want to see something different as well! So I'll talk you all next time! Be sure to follow this if you like it, and leave a review if you have any questions! Bye!**


	7. Et in Arcadea Ego

**Welcome back everyone! I hope that you all have had a good week, and a good Spring Break if you are currently celebrating Spring Break. But if you are, then why are you not at the beach? A-Anyways, the poll, before I forget.**

 **Harem: 23 votes**

 **Marie: 5 votes**

 **Naoto/Lolikano: 4 votes**

 **Yukiko/Rise/Chie: 2 votes**

 **Yosuke/Dante/Trish: 1 vote**

 **Kanji/Teddie/Yukari/Junpei/Akihiko/Mitsuru/Fuuka/Ken/Labrys/Sho/Margaret/Elizabeth: 0 votes**

 **So, clearly, the Harem is the fan favorite, and it's probably going to win unless everyone votes for whoever they want. Again, I'm not here to judge, so I don't mind whoever you choose. That's why I put in all of those names on the poll. And here are the questions that have been asked. Kinda.**

 **\- Sky Rune: 1. It works the same as in the game. The entrance is based on location. 2. I haven't planned for it, but it would be more fun then just going through the dungeons in the game. I suppose that you'll find out this chapter. 3. THANK YOU! I really hate the coin toss thing as well. 4. They have been killed in the Abyss, so Dojima wouldn't know until Mitsuru releases the deaths to the public.**

 **\- Kamencolin: I will be making a poll for it soon.**

 **\- Blarg7865: I know about the forced harem feature in P3… and I hated it, so I won't be doing that to Minato if he comes in. And in response to your response to my response to your review, I was… basing my knowledge off of the anime of Devil Survivor 2. Dante doesn't care enough to get himself a harem, unless he gets paid to have one. He'd think that it's too much work for such a little reward. Yes, both teachers are there, but they will probably never interact unless Lolikano is forced to. And… I-I don't know about doing that… Personally, I think that P4: Dancing All Night is a horrible and idiotic concept and it was a ploy to milk P4 for everything that they could. So… maybe.**

 **\- Guest (both): It is something SIMILAR to the Dark Hour. It isn't exactly the same because there's no Tartarus, so no coming of Nyx, and no Shadows taking people out of coffins and giving them Apathy Syndrome.**

 **Anyways, this chapter may have been uploaded a little late, as I'm spending most of my time supporting my girlfriend for reasons that I am not at liberty to say. And please don't make assumptions. If I have permission, you will be told at the end of the chapter. Okay, well, let's resume the story.**

* * *

"Speech"/ "Different Language"

' _Thought'_

" _Telepathy"_

" _**Shadows"/ "Demons"**_

 **Windows/Skills**

* * *

Yu looked to the right and saw Chie running towards both him and Yosuke. She panted with her hands on her knees in front of Yu.

"Good… you two are here… I… thought that… we'd have to… wait…"

Yu sipped at his empty drink, then stared at Chie. "Well, we kinda do need to wait."

Chie looked up at Yu and quickly became enraged. "What the hell do you mean 'we need to wait'?! Yukiko is in there!"

Yu blinked, and then looked Chie in the eyes. "We need weapons. Do you want to go in there, and then run into something that we can't fight because we don't have anything to fight with? And I don't mean weapons from Junes. I mean real, quality weapons."

Chie shook her head. "We can't wait though! The longer that she's in there, the more danger she's in right?! Then let's GO!"

Yu looked over at Yosuke.

"Hey, don't look at me man. I can't help you with her."

Yu nodded and then looked back at Chie with a cold glare. "Do you want Yukiko to die?"

"Wha- NO! Why would you ask that?! You jerk!" She tried to launch a kick at Yu's face, but he caught it with relative ease.

"I'm asking because you don't seem like you're serious about saving her. You want to just run in blind and get yourself killed. You're too fired up right now. Cool down and think. What good would it do if we get killed trying to save Yukiko?"

Chie was shocked at Yu catching her leg, but then slowly began to calm down at his words. "R-Right… sorry. I just want to save her so badly…"

Yu smiled and let go of her leg. "And we will Chie, but we really need weapons. If you know of any place at all, now's the time to tell us."

Chie sat down and began to think. "Well… there is this one place that makes some really old fashioned stuff, but they're really… flashy, I guess is the word."

Yu stood up abruptly. "Show us."

* * *

Yosuke's eye twitched as he stared at the metalworks shop in front of him. "How do you even know this place exists?" He then wore a smirk on his face to hide his nerves. "I get it. You watched one too many kung-fu movies and-"

Chie turned and yelled at Yosuke. "No you idiot! I heard some kids in our class talk about it! God!"

Yu tuned the two of them out and walked into the store, curious about the wares they had to offer. He was not disappointed in the slightest. As he entered Deidara's metalworks, the scent of burning wood immediately permeated the air. Lining the walls and shelves of the shop were weapons of all kinds, ranging from katana, to kunai, to battle fans, to guns. It was the perfect weapon shop for a game character. He checked his **Inventory** and saw eyed the money counter under his perks.

 **35000 yen**

Though it wasn't enough to probably buy the more… higher end gear, it was enough to equip him, Yosuke, and Chie with basic armor and weapons. "Excuse me?" He walked up to the counter and smiled at a balding man who he assumed to be Deidara.

"… What do you want kid?"

Yu looked back outside to see that Yosuke and Chie were still fighting. ' _You'd swear it was like they were married…'_ "I'm looking to buy some of your pieces of art."

"… This ain't an art shop. Get lost."

"No, this is not an art shop to most people, but these are your works of art, aren't they? If they aren't, then how can you take pride in calling yourself a blacksmith?" ' _Thank you video games for teaching me that blacksmiths either coddle their finest pieces of work, or see their work as art!'_

Deidara stared at Yu, which shifted into a glare. "You're different then the kids that come in here all the time… What do you need my 'art' for?"

' _Bingo.'_ "I want to protect people. Those that can't fight for themselves tend to get in trouble, which tends to drag innocent people into the conflict. I want to keep innocent people from getting hurt. And I won't deny that there is a situation going on that we can't go to the police from getting dragged into… whatever I've been dragged into."

"And… you think that _you're_ the one who has to do...whatever you have to do alone…?"

Yu shook his head. "No, I don't have a hero complex… I'd rather not take any risks if I don't need to. That's why I'm here. The girl in the green jacket there wanted to charge in, but I insisted that we come and get weapons. I'm not sure, however, if we can even afford such quality craft." ' _Keep up the flattery… they need weapons.'_

Deidara stared at Yu. "Flattery will get you nowhere kid. But, you do have a point. If you're going to go anywhere, you need protection. Especially if you got a hero complex like yourself." He chuckled and then saw the two others walk in. "Welcome. I hope that you're not just here to browse, after what your friend told me."

Yosuke looked at Yu. "Dude, what did you tell him?"

The blacksmith smirked and glanced over at the brunette with headphones. "Just said that you gotta take care of something that you can't tell the police about. Don't worry, I won't blab. But I'm running a business here. Either buy something, or get out."

Chie walked up to the counter and placed a sack of stuff onto the counter and left just enough money to pay for it. Yu didn't even bother to **Observe** her gear. "Alright, I got all my stuff picked out. I'll wait for you two outside." She walked out of the store and just stood there holding the sack.

The three males just stared at here, for the exact same reason. Deidara was the first to speak. "Well, you weren't kidding. She seems like the type to charge into things."

Yosuke nodded and then looked around for a second. "Damn… I can't decide what to get…" He thought for a moment, then had a look of realization. "Why don't you just pick something out for me? You're the one with the most combat experience, so I think that I can trust you to pick something that fits me." He walked over to Yu and handed him 10,000 Yen. "Here, this should cover the cost of whatever you get. I'll go and try to cool Chie down some more." Yosuke then walked out and looked like he was talking to Chie.

Yu shook his head with a smile. He then look up at Deidara. "Okay, so, first thing's first, armor." After a brief tour of the shop with the blacksmith, Yu had picked out a pair of Hunting Nata's for Yosuke and had grabbed two chainmail shirts for him and Yosuke. Seeing as Chie said that she had picked her stuff out, he didn't get anything for her. ' _Probably going to regret that.'_ "So, what's this going to cost?"

Deidara rang up the equipment. "It'll cost 10800 Yen, tax included."

"And… how much more to change our names in your ledger?"

Deidara laughed a bit. "You know your stuff kid. Probably from a lot of video games right?"

Yu blushed slightly in embarrassment and looked away.

This caused the older man to laugh much harder. "O-Oh! I needed that today!" He quickly calmed down and looked at Yu with a very serious expression. "And you do realize that what I'm about to do is illegal, right?"

Yu nodded. "It's not like you know our last names, or even my first name. The fee is just a little bit of… incentive to help you remember something else."

"20000 Yen. Cash. Up front right now."

Yu sighed and then fished the money from his 'pocket' along with the cost of the equipment. "Here you go. I was hoping to save some of this, but beggars can't be choosers." He placed the money on the counter and slid it towards the man, offering the deal.

"Deal." Deidara placed the money for the weapons in his register, while he pocketed the rest. Probably for a rainy day fund. "And you'll fine all of my equipment to be forged to the highest quality. With the materials that I have, of course. If you get me more exotic materials somehow, it could be possible to create better weapons for ya."

 **You have unlocked the Shop: Deidara's Metalworks!**

 **The shop system is much like one you would find in a video game. As long as you have the money for it, you will be able to afford any weapon or item that the shopkeep has in stock. This particular shop specializes in selling equipment, so the mechanics are different then just a normal item shop. If you bring a certain number of rare materials to the blacksmith, there is a chance that he will be able to forge a brand new piece of equipment for you and your party. Once the blacksmith creates the equipment once, you will be able to purchase as many as you'd like, as long as you have the funds for it.**

 **Note: You may only purchase your highest quality equipment for your party from this shop, save for the strongest weapons, that are usually found in dungeons.**

' _There's even a thing with shopping with this game… Neat.'_ Yu nodded as he gently took the equipment. "I'll keep that in mind, Deidara-san, and thank you." He bowed slightly, then turned to walk out of the shop. He stood next to Yosuke and handed him 10000 Yen. "I didn't need it. The stuff is actually pretty cheap for the quality of them." He rattled the chainmail softly, kinda liking the sound of it.

Yosuke nodded as he took the money. "But, that brings up another problem… how the hell are we going to get into Junes wearing this stuff? I mean, we were almost taken to jail once because of it, so…"

Chie suddenly had a rare moment of brilliance. "Oh! We can hide them under our school uniforms!"

Yu sweatdropped at the idea as he turned to look at Chie. "I get the 'hiding metal stuff under our clothes' thing… but why specifically our school clothes…? Won't it be kinda weird, seeing teenagers on the weekends wearing something that they're forced to wear?"

Chie nodded. "Well, yeah, but it's not like people will ask about seeing metal stuff on us. Even better, they'll all probably think that it's just a fashion statement."

Yosuke looked at Yu. "For once, she has a point dude."

"Whaddaya mean 'for once'?!" Chie quickly became enraged and stomped on Yosuke's foot.

Yu stood back as he watched Yosuke grab his foot and hop in place.

"Ow! Dammit Chie! What the hell did I even do this time?!"

"You know what you did!"

Yu began snickering at the sight of the two acting like a married couple. He would never say anything about it though. "A-Anyways, Chie has a point. If we wear our stuff under school clothes, then we won't have to worry about people asking about our armor. And with our weapons, well, you guys can hide yours pretty well. I'll look around for some stuff here, see if we can get an edge on anything, and then I'll meet up with you guys at Junes. Sound good?"

Yosuke winced as he set his foot back down. "Yeah, it does. That way, we won't look very suspicious, and I can just be showing Chie around to look at TV's again."

Chie nodded. "Then it's settled. We'll see you there Yu!" She ran off back towards Junes, leaving the two guys behind.

Yosuke groaned. "I swear, she isn't stable at all… But I have to go and take a look at some stuff anyways. I'll meet you in the food court." He limped off after Chie, at a surprisingly brisk pace.

Yu chuckled and then turned around towards the gas station. He just felt like grinding, and going behind the gas station seemed like a good idea. He kept walking until he heard a loud noise to his right and saw a flash of blue. He turned to the right and saw a blue door.

" _Come now, and open the door."_

Yu was hesitant to move at all as Igor's voice rang through his head.

A boy with shaggy blue hair flashed in front of Yu, sitting in a white chair, in an all white room. He was wearing a Gekkoukan uniform. "… _Go on."_

Yu blinked at the sight and rubbed his eyes. When he looked again, the boy was gone. He looked around for a moment, then steeled himself as he turned towards the door. Even with his **[Gamer's Mind]** he was still nervous. He walked towards the door and pulled the Velvet Key out of his **Inventory** as he deposited the gear and unlocked the door. As soon as he removed the key the door swung open and blinded Yu, while dragging his mind and soul through said door.

* * *

Yu was shocked that he could actually move around in the car this time. He took his seat across from Igor and sighed. "So, why did you want me here, and is that blue haired kid also live here?"

Elizabeth looked down at her drink. For some reason, she always had one.

Yu stared at the girl. "… Was there something that I said?"

Igor cleared his throat. "That boy was not a resident of this place, rather, a guest like you. And Elizabeth was… rather close to him. He gave his life to perform a miracle. Such is the cost of a life for a life. He did not want to save the world, rather one person, selfish as that might seem." He shuffled a deck of cards, trying to distract himself from something.

Yu nodded while looking down. "Well… I just wanted to ask because he appeared in front of me. In a white chair, and in a white room."

Margaret cleared her throat. "At any rate, we requested that you enter the room for a small… checkup, as you could call it."

"Why? Is there something wrong with me?"

Margaret shook her head. "Not at the moment, however, that could change at any moment, due to the nature of your power. I would do it myself, though the only one who can gaze into souls is our Master."

Igor nodded to himself. "You are required to close your eyes, as you could possibly go blind. The unfiltered sight of a soul is far too much for the mortal body to comprehend, making you go blind."

Yu immediately shut his eyes. As he waited he heard lightning strike and wind howling for some reason.

" _I-I am t-thou…And thou art I…"_

' _What…?'_

" _Save me from this torment… I plead to you… set me free!"_

' _I-Izanagi…? No, his voice was much deeper… someone else…'_

" _Please Master Souji!"_

Yu forced his eyes open to see a small woman bound in chains, said chains piercing through her limbs. She had insectoid wings, and was bleeding a glowing blue liquid. His eyes widened and he felt his retinas burning.

" _Help me!"_

Yu closed his eyes and tried to think of a way to free the woman. No matter the cost.

 **The Active effect of "Indomitable Will" has activated!**

The limo came to a screeching halt as the windows began to crack. The woman began to glow a soft green and the chains began to twist and snap.

 **[Zio] has gained a level!**

 **[Zio] has gained a level!**

 **[Zio] has gained a level!**

 **[Zio] has gained a level!**

 **[Zio] has evolved into the skill [Mazio]!**

 **Mazio** **(Active): LV:12 EXP: 0.00%: MP Cost: 36: Through calling on the element of lightning, you are able to create a light storm of lightning, damaging your enemies in a certain area.**

 **44 points of Lightning damage to the target (134 if Persona is active)**

 **AOE, 3 ft.**

 **Lightning Affinity has progressed to [Low]**

Yu panted heavily as he opened his eyes to see a few of the chains impaled into the woman broken on the platform she was standing on. He closed his eyes again to let **[Gamer's Body]** fix up his eyes. "S-So… is there a problem…?"

" _Thank you… I know that we're hurting… but thank you for trying to help…"_

Margaret was too busy shielding her eyes just in case glass shattered.

Igor cleared his throat, seemingly trying to think of something to tell Yu, as he was doing it for far longer then he should have. "Well, it seems that you are in an… interesting… situation. All of your potential Personae, save for Izanagi, seem to be tormented and tortured constantly, a possible reflection of your psyche. Though… the Persona Pixie seemed to call out to you in pain. And… something happened, as some of the chains… binding… her, seemed to shatter. This is an unfamiliar phenomena for me, as I normally just assist in the development of powers. Allow me some time to get in contact with… other people who are more familiar with this situation."

Elizabeth was somehow drunk. "H-Hahah! T-The nose doesn't *hic* know shomething~~!" She began to laugh her drunken ass off and then fell forward onto the floor.

Marie blinked as she looked around at the group. "What just happened?"

Yu looked over at Marie and then just kept staring. "… Welp… I… think that I'm gonna go… and let you all discuss whatever you're going to discuss." He stood up and then exited the room, daylight coming through the door for the brief moment it was open.

Philemon appeared in Yu's spot with grey hair. "So… what happened? The limo looks like something exploded."

Marie looked over at Philemon. "… What's with your hair? Getting old?"

Philemon choked on air. "W-What?! No! I just dyed my hair!"

"It looks bad. Change it back."

"I-I…" Philemon sighed and then disappeared again.

* * *

Yu panted softly as he emerged from the Velvet room. ' _Can… can my personas talk to me…? Izanagi? Are you there?'_ When Yu got no response, he sighed. "Guess not…" Yu then checked his phone and saw that no time had passed since he entered the Velvet room. Which was interesting, but he had more pressing matters to attend to. Yu looked around and then entered a blank barrier. He smirked and then looked at the gas station.

"I wonder…" He raised his hand towards the sky and focused on one of the gas pumps. " **Mazio!** " A crack of thunder rang out as multiple lightning bolts came down from the sky and attacked anything around the gas pump before three bolts struck the target at the same time. "… So, it's just an AOE version of **[Zio]**." He smiled and then saw the MP cost. "Holy shit… I need to find a way to grind my MP regen…" Yu then had a weird idea. "Well, if it works in anime… I might as well try it." He sat down in the empty street, crossed his legs, and began to breath deeply, attempting to clear his mind.

 _Yu panted as he ran away from some bigger kids. He looked at his hands and saw that he was a child again._

" _Get that freak!"_

" _Leave me alone!" He panted even harder, and was confused at why his voice was so high pitched._

" _Kill him!"_

 _Yu skidded to a halt as he was blocked by a fence. He looked around frantically for an exit._

 _A man with a butterfly mask watched the child from a distance._

" _Nowhere to run, weirdo!" One of the larger kids of the group walked towards Yu and cracked his knuckles. As he was about to throw a punch, he was shocked by something._

 _Yu's eyes were yellow as a blue ring of energy slowly formed under him. "_ _ **DON'T TOUCH ME!**_ " _A figure with a spear appeared briefly and sent crackling bolts of electricity at the group, the voltage high enough to completely fry them. As his eyes became grey again, he panted heavily as the figure faded, and he collapsed onto the ground._

Yu's eyes snapped open. "… I think I'll come back to that." He stood up and dusted his pants off. "Anyways… there's a girl that needs help, and sitting around won't do anything to save her." He took off towards Junes again at his full speed, trying to get training in as well.

* * *

Yu waited inside of Junes for Chie and Yosuke to show up. For some reason, he was always there before them.

"So~ What're you doing back here so soon~?"

Yu turned around to see Lolikano looking up at him. ' _Ugh… can't catch a break today, can I…?'_ "Oh, nothing much sensei. Yosuke just asked me to meet him here again. If anything, you should ask him."

Lolikano hummed and stood on the tips of her toes, staring up at Yu. ' _Shit… he has mana flowing through him… I'll have to start taking this seriously. And how did I not notice this before?!'_ "But what if I want to ask you~~~ Hmmm~~~?"

Yu took a step back, a little… afraid. "W-Well, then you'd get the wrong answer." He faked getting a notification. "Shit. Damn phone…" He opened the screen and then closed it. "W-Well, it was nice talking to you, but my friends are here and I have to go meet them right now immediately. I'll see you tomorrow Sensei!" He ran away from her at top speed, towards the food court.

Loliano stifled a giggle at Yu's antics and then sighed happily. "Oh… I love messing with people."

Yu panted as he stumbled over to the table he was at earlier today. "Hah… how… is this… table… always… empty…?" ' _Seriously! This is the fifth time I've gotten this table in the five times that I have been here!'_ He groaned and shook his head as he sat down. "This is just weird…"

"What's weird dude?"

Yu jumped and then looked behind him to see Yosuke behind him. "Oh thank god. I thought that you were someone else… And you remember seeing that woman laughing her ass off yesterday?"

Yosuke nodded silently.

"Well, it seems… that she's taken some weird interest in me… hopefully not romantic… Oh, what's even worse is that she's our European History teacher."

Yosuke blinked and then quickly sat down. "Holy shit are you serious?"

"Yeah… it's really weird."

Yosuke then leaned in close to Yu. "Is she hot?! Pleeeease tell me that she's hot!"

"Well, if the slow, creeping feeling on my spine is saying anything, then she'll be here-"

"Hey boys!"

"Right now… Why…?" Yu slowly covered his face and groaned.

Lolikano walked over to the two students, swaying her hips slightly.

"Dude… She's cute. Why don't you-"

Yu glared at Yosuke. "Say another word… and you don't get your equipment." He then hit his head on the table.

"She's clearly interested in you dude! So why-"

"I dare you to say it Yosuke… I fucking dare you…"

Lolikano placed her hands on the table and looked at Yosuke. "So~ your friend here told me to talk to you to find out what you're doing here~" She trailed a finger down Yosuke's chest and then gazed into his eyes. "Care to tell me what you guys are doing here~~~?"

Yu just shook his head.

Yosuke stuttered with a small blush on his face. "W-Well, we're here because our friend Chie needs our help with something, and we can only meet up here. T-That's all."

Lolikano leaned in closer to Yosuke. "Are you sure that's all there is~~~?"

Yu groaned and then pushed Lolikano off of Yosuke. "You know that I could have you arrested for soliciting a minor, right? I live with a detective. So stick to messing with people over twenty-one."

The Witch pouted at Yu. "You're mean…"

"No, I just don't buy your bullshit, Mistream-sensei."

' _He knows my name… What the hell is this kid?! I made sure that I use fake names on everything! Even my birth certificate has a fake name on it!'_ "Well then you're no fun. Maybe I'll have to try my games out on your daddy~"

Yu shrugged. "See if I care. With any luck, you'll stop your games before you even get close to him. He takes things very literally."

' _So he has no idea that his parents are dead.'_ "Well, I guess that I'll just have to _take care_ of him so I can have my fun! Ciao!" Mistream walked away, humming to herself.

' _She forced the words 'take care' out. She probably wanted to say something else, so either she's been hired to kill him, or he's already dead.'_ Yu looked up at the sky and sighed to himself. "… The clouds look nice today."

Yosuke looked at him oddly. "You okay man? You're acting weird."

"Just trying to get that crazy chick out of my head before I break something." Yu smirked because he knew that she could still hear him. "I mean, she's our sensei, yet she looks younger then us. Someone with that much focus on their looks should probably be locked in the loony bin." He chuckled to himself. "Yosuke, here's a tip for you. Don't stick your dick in crazy."

"I… what?"

"Exactly."

Yosuke checked his phone. "W-Where the hell is Chie?"

' _Speak her name and-'_

"Sorry I'm late! I thought that we were meeting up in the electronics department!" Chie ran over the two panting softly. "So, are we going in yet?"

Yu shook his head. "Catch your breath first. Then we can go in." ' _I also need a breather from crazy… Shit. I just jinxed it.'_ "On second thought, let's go!" Yu stood up abruptly and walked towards the elevators.

"Yes! Alright! No more waiting!" Chie ran after Yu and slipped through the closing doors of said elevator.

Yosuke got up and ran over to the elevator, barely catching it as it was about to close. "Dude, seriously, something's up with you. What is it?"

Yu looked around for a second. "Just trying to get away from someone absolutely insane.

Dante sneezed as he walked into the food court. "Is someone talking about me again?"

As soon as the elevator opened, he walked directly into the electronics department and stood in front of the TV. "Come on, hurry it up, we don't have all day. We also-" Yu felt another chill down his spine as his friends caught up with him. He shoved his hand into the TV and stared at the two. "Hurry up!"

Chie nodded and dove into the TV.

Yosuke looked at Yu, who nodded, and they both fell into the TV at the same time.

* * *

 **You have entered the realm of Truth and Desires**

Yu ignored the rest of the notifications as he recovered from the fall. He dusted himself off and saw Teddie sprawled out on his back, panting heavily. He equipped his glasses and **Observed** him.

 **Name: Teddie**

 **Title: Who am I?**

 **LV: 1**

 **HP: 75/75**

 **SP: 125/125**

 **STR: 3**

 **VIT: 3**

 **DEX: 9**

 **INT: 5**

 **WIS: 1**

 **LUK: ?**

 **A strange bear that knows nothing about itself. What mysteries will he learn about himself?**

Yu smiled and helped Teddie to his feet. "You've been training hard, haven't you Teddie?"

Teddie nodded tiredly. "Yep… you told me to train until I drop Sensei, so that's what I did…! I Even feel stronger!"

 **!QUEST ALERT!**

 **Save the Princess!**

 **Objective 1: Defeat ?**

 **Objective 2: ?**

 **Objective 3: Defeat ?**

 **Objective 4: Defeat ? and save Yukiko**

 **Side Objective 1: Unlock at least 3 new types of equipment at Deidara's**

 **Side Objective 2: Slay 5 rare Shadows**

 **Hidden Objective**

 **Main Rewards: 5000 Yen, 2000 EXP, 20 Agi Skill Cards, Satisfaction of saving a life**

 **Side Rewards: 500 EXP granted for each objective completed, Possible discount at Deidara's, 10000 Yen**

 **Hidden Reward**

 **Failure: Death of Yukiko, World Engulfed in Fog, Death**

 **Do you accept this Quest?**

 **[YES/NO]**

Yu accepted the quest mentally and gently started scratching Teddie behind his ears. "That's great buddy. But do you think that you can help us with something? We need your support today, so you don't have to train at all today. Oh! I almost forgot." He pulled out another one of those bars out of his pocket and whispered in Ted's ear. "I have something better, but it has to wait until we're alone to give it to you."

Teddie leaned into Yu's hand like a pet and then jumped for joy at the fact that Yu was probably proud of him. "Okay! What do I need to do Sensei?" He then grabbed the food and started nibbling away at it.

"Well, we need you to find someone if you can. Her name is Yukiko Amagi, and she fell inside of here last night. Do you think that you can lead her to us?"

Teddie nodded once he finished his food and then took a few steps back and started sniffing. "Hmm… Hrnnnn…Oh! I-I think I got something! Follow me!" Teddie ran off in a seemingly random direction.

Yu looked back at the Yosuke and Chie.

Chie immediately ran after Teddie.

Yu smirked and then ran after Teddie as well with Yosuke following behind. After what seemed like an hour of running, they were outside of castle that had two guards outside of the entrance. He pulled Yosuke's weapons from his **Inventory** when he was sure that no one was looking and handed the Natas to him. He then reached into his jacket and pulled Yosuke's chain shirt from his **Inventory** as well. "Here. Put this on now before we have to go in."

Yosuke nodded and slipped the chain shirt over his torso, not wanting to waste any time. He then remembered something important and put his glasses on to get rid of the fog. Immediately, the headache that was starting to come up faded.

Yu quickly equipped his chain shirt and then pulled his Katana from his jacket. "Okay, you guys ready to save Yukiko?"

Chie stared up at the castle. "What the… a… castle…?! You guys think that this is the place that they showed on TV last night?!"

Yu looked up at the castle, seeing how tall it is. "Yeah. There's no doubt about it…"

Yosuke looked at Teddie. "Teddie, you're sure that no one's behind a camera for that bizarre midnight program?"

Teddie turned around to look at Yosuke. "Er… program? I don't know what that is, but only us and that girl are in here right now. And no one else besides me and Shadows live here normally. I don't know what a camera is, but there's none of that stuff going on here. This world has just always been like this."

Yosuke facepalmed, annoyed. "What do you mean that this place has always been like this?! We don't understand that part!"

Teddie shrugged. "I dunno. Can you guys explain everything that happens in your world? I've never seen this 'program' thingy before, so I don't know."

Chie scratched her head in confusion. "Well… could we be looking into your world through the TV?"

Teddie shrugged again as he turned to face Chie. "I don't know. Like I said, I've never seen this program thing before, so I really don't know."

Yu hummed softly. "Well, that probably isn't just it, because the first time Yukiko showed up on the Midnight Channel was before she was kidnapped."

Chie nodded slightly. "Yeah… and what was she even saying! Yukiko doesn't say stuff like 'score myself a hot stud'! That isn't like her at all!"

Teddie thought to himself. "'Score'…? 'Stud'…?"

Yosuke looked over at Chie. "Yeah, I couldn't believe it either… Yukiko-san would never say something as odd as that… and the way she was showing off her…" He seemed to consider his words carefully. "Assets… was really weird too. She wouldn't ever consider saying OR doing anything like that." Yosuke then seemed to have an idea. "I… I wonder if this is like what happened to me last time too…"

Yu looked over at Yosuke. "You mean that the Yukiko we saw could be her…"

Yosuke nodded. "Exactly."

Yu looked down in thought. "Which means that she could be in even more danger then we thought."

Chie seemed very startled at that. "S-She's in MORE danger?! That's it! I'm not standing around anymore!" She looked forward and then breathed deeply. "Yukiko is in there somewhere. I'm going to get her!" She then ran into the castle and past the two guards.

Yosuke tried to grab her. "Chie wait!" He then groaned as he missed. "Dammit… we have to stop her before she gets herself killed. Let's go!" Yosuke ran towards then entrance.

Yu was about to run after Yosuke, when Teddie grabbed his wrist. He looked back at the stuffed(?) bear. "What is it Ted?"

Teddie pulled out five odd seeds and 5 vials of glowing liquid. "I found these while I was taking a break Sensei. I think that you could use them!"

Yu grabbed one of each and **Observed** them both.

 **Peach Seed(Enchanted)**

 **Restores 50 HP**

 **Soul Drop**

 **Restores 50 MP/SP**

He then smiled and took all of them gently. "Thanks buddie. These will help a lot. Now come on. We have to go after Chie." Yu stored the items into his **Inventory** after shoving them into his jacket and he drew his Katana. He then turned back towards the castle and ran after the two others into the castle. Once he was inside, he found Yosuke standing just inside, waiting for him. "Thanks for waiting for us."

Teddie sniffed the air a bit. "She hasn't gone that far in yet!"

Yosuke groaned and shook his head. "She ran off all alone… Dammit… Let's go!"

"U-Um, wait a second! The Shadows have gotten ag… aggra… mad since you guys got here, and they'll probably attack you two on sight. So try to get the jump on them if you can Sensei!"

Yu nodded and readied his blade. "I'll take point. Don't go off alone." He then immediately entered the door on his left and saw two Shadows patrolling the area. He **Observed** both of them.

 **Lying Hablerie**

 **LV: 5**

 **HP: 73/73**

 **SP: 51/51**

 **STR: 15**

 **VIT: 3**

 **DEX: 7**

 **INT: 1**

 **WIS: 0**

 **LUK: 0**

 **Calm Pesce**

 **LV: 6**

 **HP: 82/82**

 **SP: 32/32**

 **STR: 18**

 **VIT: 5**

 **DEX: 15**

 **INT: 2**

 **WIS: 1**

 **LUK: 0**

Yu nodded. There are only two of them. It should be easy. And they're close to each other. He ran at them and cast **Mazio** without his Persona, hitting both of the enemies. "Yosuke! Finish them off!"

Yosuke nodded and called forth his Persona. This is the first time that he'd be doing it in battle, so he decided to make it cool and jump into the air and slash downwards towards the ground, and through the card, making it shatter. "Come! Persona!" From the shards of the card rose Jiraiya, The Calm Before the Storm. Yosuke sent Jiraiya after the two Shadows, killing the Hablerie with an attack called **Bash** and then taking out the other one with a **Garu**. He ran over to Yu, panting. Apparently doing that was exhausting for him. "Did you see that?!"

Yu looked back at him and nodded. "Now's not the time to get excited. We still have to save Chie." He walked over to the decaying bodies of the Shadows and saw bits of Yen and some form of item.

 **You have gained 72 EXP!**

Yu then picked up the Yen and the item before Yosuke could see. He didn't want him getting any ideas about hunting here for money. It just wasn't safe.

Yosuke looked back at Yu. "Hey, did they drop something? Like in a video game?"

' _If only you knew…'_ "Yeah. I don't know what it is though." Yu held up a bit of paper that has some form of writing on it.

 **You have gained 290 Yen and an Idea Paper**

 **Idea Paper**

 **A mystical paper that can be moulded into equipment. It can enhance a user's attributes, depending on how it's folded. Used for crafting**

Yosuke walked over to Yu and looked at the crafting material. "Looks like… paper."

Yu nodded and tried to fold it into something that resembled a crane. It was shoddy, but it… looked like a crane at least.

 **A special skill has been created through a special action!**

 **Through creating something with a crafting material, the skill [Crafting] has been created!**

 **Crafting** **(Passive): LV:1 EXP: 0.00%: The action of creating something from something else.**

 **5% increase to chances of creating something through crafting materials**

 **Difficulty increases as the complexity of the crafted item increases.**

 **Idea Paper Crane (Poor)**

 **This paper crane has seen better days, and would've broken down by now if not for the magical energy keeping it together.**

Yu stared at the crane and then sighed as he unfolded it to see that the paper returned to perfect condition. "So… it's magical paper." He shrugged and shoved it into his jacket/ **Inventory** and turned back towards the hallways. "Let's… backtrack a bit. I want to see if there's cool stuff here."

Yosuke looked at Yu. "Umm… shouldn't we be helping Chie?"

Teddie cleared his non-existent throat. "Well, the Shadows won't attack her because she's normal. But they'll attack you two. So she's safe for now."

Yu nodded and then began to run back through the door and took a left down the first hall. He saw three Lying Hablerie and smirked. "Persona!" He crushed the card that appeared in his hand and had Izanagi fry the three Shadows with **Mazio**. He quickly gathered whatever they dropped and kept running forward after he had deactivated Izanagi. He encountered two Calm Pesce and then ran at them using **Cleave**. He slashed through the first one easily, then spun around to decapitate the other one with an upwards **Cleave**. He grabbed whatever they dropped and then took a slight break to let the others catch up.

 **You have gained 176 EXP, 720 Yen, 2 Idea Paper, and 1 Big Incisor**

Yu sighed a bit, and then looked down at the ground to see a small red chest. He shrugged and crouched down to turn the knob keeping it closed, when it started jumping. "… Please don't be something like a mimic…" He looked behind him and saw Yosuke and Teddie catching up to him. Yu looked back at the chest and quickly turned the knob, causing the chest to fly open. Inside of it was two golden keys. He grabbed them and shoved them into his **Inventory** just as the other two arrived.

 **You have obtained 2 Chest Keys!**

Yosuke panted as he caught up with Yu. "Dude… what… the hell… was that?! How did you take those guys out so quickly?!"

Yu stood up and shrugged. "I don't know how it works. I can just… do things that other people can't sometimes."

 **Lie Successful!**

Yu then decided to add onto it. "Look, we can't be wondering about our powers right now. I'll tell you if I find anything out, but until then, we're in the dark on this." He sighed and then saw a card flutter down from nothing and onto the ground. Yu blinked and then crouched down to pick it up.

 **Cleave Skill Card**

 **Activates the [Cleave] skill one time. Dissolves upon use**

' _So it isn't just elements…It's any skill that involves these guys.'_ Yu stood and then flipped the card over to see a sword slashing at him. He pocketed it and then cracked his neck before running back down the hall and entering the door when he skidded to a halt and groaned. The two enemies they killed first had respawned. "That's a really fast respawn time." Yu shook his head and summoned Izanagi to fry them. They died instantly and Yu picked up the loot before Yosuke and Teddie saw. Another card fluttered down from nowhere. Yu grabbed it midair this time.

 **You have gained 72 EXP, 290 Yen, 1 Idea Paper, and 1 Big Incisor**

 **Dia Skill Card**

 **Activates the [Dia] skill one time. Dissolves upon use.**

Yu waited for the others again and looked back at them. "Hey, do either of you guys know what the ability **[Dia]** does?"

Teddie shook his head. Well, his whole body.

Yosuke had his eyes closed and then nodded. "It can heal someone."

Yu pocketed the card with a groan. "Then these bastards can heal…" He felt some odd form of anger bubbling up inside of him, before **[Gamer's Mind]** forced him to calm down. "Alright… now we REALLY need to stay together. Us splitting apart was my fault, and it won't happen again. Yosuke, you stay at a distance, since you're our healer right now. Protect Teddie more then me. I can take a little punishment. He can't. He even told me that he can't fight."

Yosuke seemed confused at this. "Dude, why do I need to protect Ted when I should be focusing on fighting?"

"Think strategically for a moment. Teddie is our Analyst. Which means that he has one of the most valuable roles. You said that this is like a video game right? Then treat it like one, except where if you die, you don't get to respawn, and you die in real life."

Yosuke nodded. "Got it. Like or Sword Art Online."

Yu looked back at Yosuke, his turned to be confused. "What… What are those?"

Yosuke was about to say something, but shook his head. "Nevermind. I'll tell you once we get to Chie."

Yu let out a noise of acknowledgement and then started to run forward at a pace that he was sure Yosuke and Teddie could keep up with. Eventually, after a few encounters, Yu had gained 1150 more Yen, 280 more EXP, 3 more Idea Papers, 2 more Big Incisors, 3 Cleave Skill Cards, and 4 Dia Cards. They stood in front of a staircase that led up to the next floor. "… Gotta be honest, I'm a little disappointed. I thought that there was going to be something cool to take us up like a magical glyph or something. Not just stairs."

Yosuke nodded slowly. "I'm with you on that one… I mean, aren't stairs just overused in dungeons?"

Teddie made a noise of confusion. "This world is reality for whoever falls in here."

Yu looked back at Yosuke. "So… does this tell you that Yukiko is into Medieval History, or is just old fashioned?"

Yosuke blinked and then snickered. "D-Did you just tell a joke?"

Yu just nodded and then sighed. "Oh well. We better start climbing…" He walked forward and then cautiously stepped onto the stairs. When nothing happened he looked back at the two and walked ahead. Soon they reached the top of the flight, with Yosuke and Teddie panting heavily.

"Honestly… Yukiko-san… why… did you… make the stairs… so damn long?!"

"My legs are going to fall off… Sensei…"

Yu sighed. "Teddie, can you sense any Shadows up here?"

Teddie shook his head immediately.

"Then we should be able to take a break here." Yu was about to sit down to rest as well, as his MP was getting kinda low. ' _ **Log**_ ' That was another thing that he found out about his power. But he only got a Notification Log inside of battle or a dungeon. It was useful, but it didn't really let him know when his skills leveled up sadly.

 **Log has been sorted.**

 **[Detect Bloodlust] has gained a level!**

 **[Detect Bloodlust] has gained a level!**

 **[Detect Bloodlust] has gained a level!**

 **[Elemental Enhancement] has gained a level!**

 **[Garu] has gained a level!**

 **[Garu] has gained a level!**

 **[Garu] has gained a level!**

 **[Garu] has gained a level!**

 **[Sense Danger] has gained a level!**

 **[Sense Danger] has gained a level!**

 **[Sense Danger] has gained a level!**

 **[Sense Danger] has gained a level!**

 **[Sense Danger] has gained a level!**

 **[Sense Danger] has gained a level!**

 **[Summon Persona] has gained a level!**

 **[Summon Persona] has gained a level!**

 **[Sword Mastery] has gained a level!**

 **[Mazio] has gained a level!**

 **[Observe] has gained a level!**

 **[Observe] has gained a level!**

 **You have gained a total of 600 EXP, 2450 Yen, 2 Chest Keys, 4 Big Incisors, 7 Idea Papers, 4 Cleave Skill Cards, and 5 Dia Skill Cards in this dungeon.**

Yu blinked at the amount of skills that had improved, well, more like the amount of times his skills had improved. He didn't think he used Garu THAT much. Then again…

 **MP: 48/400**

' _Maybe I was a little trigger happy…'_ Yu was brought out of his thoughts by Teddie gasping. "What is it Teddie?"

Teddie pointed towards the door at the far end of the hall. "That girl you were with… Chie… she's in there!"

Yu helped Yosuke to his feet and then pulled up Teddie. "Then let's go get her!"

Yosuke nodded and then looked Yu in the eyes. "You're clearly the better fighter, so don't hesitate to give me orders, alright?"

Yu nodded as well and then ran towards the large double doors. As soon as he touched them, they swung open. The group saw Chie standing in the middle of the room, looking up.

Yosuke ran over to her. "Chie! Are you alright?!" When he got no reaction from Chie at all he walked a little closer. "Chie…?"

" _She said that red looks good on me…"_ Yukiko's voice rang out from everywhere

Yu's eyes widened and then looked around for Yukiko. When he didn't find her, he grimaced. ' _This is just like with Yosuke… if the pattern is the same, then…'_ He gripped his blade harder.

Yosuke looked up as well. "Y-Yukiko-san?!"

"… _I hate my name… Yukiko… 'snow'… Snow is cold and it melts so quickly… It's transient… Worthless… But it's perfect for me… apart from inheriting the inn… I'M worthless… But… Chie still said that red looks good on me…"_

Yosuke looked saddened. "Are these… Yukiko-san's inner thoughts…? I remember hearing Saki-senpai's too…"

Teddie whispered to both Yu and Yosuke. "This place was created by this Yukiko… so her inner thoughts are being laid 'bear'."

Chie sniffled a bit. "Y-Yukiko…"

" _Chie is the only one who gives my life meaning… She's bright… and strong… and she can do anything… She has everything that I don't… Compared to Chie… I'm… I'm…"_ It was almost like Yukiko shook her head. " _Chie protects me… She looks after my worthless life…And… I don't deserve any of it…Chie… is so kind…"_

"Y-Yukiko… I…" Chie kept staring up at the ceiling.

"' _ **Chie is sooo kind' huh? What a joke!"**_

Chie quickly wiped her eyes and stared at where the voice came from. "W-What?!"

A mirror image of Chie slowly phased into existence as it walked towards the group. Purple smog quickly formed around it, and it's eyes became an eerie yellow.

Yosuke flinched heavily. "Oh shit… i-is that…?"

Yu nodded. "Her Shadow."

Teddie nodded as well. "She lost control of her repressed self and… now it's a Shadow."

Shadow Chie began to laugh. " _ **Are we talking about THAT Yukiko?! She says I'm protecting HER?!"**_ The Shadow laughed even harder. " _ **She says she's worthless~! That's how it should be right?!"**_

Chie took a step back. "W-What are you saying?!"

Shadow Chie suddenly had a mocking expression as she stared at her original self. " _ **Yukiko's soo good looking… soooo fair skinned… sooooo feminine! She's the one all the guys drool over! When Yukiko looked at me with such jealousy…"**_ The other Chie chuckled. " _ **Man! Did I get a charge out of that!"**_ The Shadow scowled. " _ **Yukiko knows the score. She can't do ANYTHING without me around. I'm just better then her. Much… MUCH better!"**_

Chie shook her head violently, becoming enraged. "No! I-I have never thought that! Not once!"

Yosuke looked at Yu. "W-What're we gonna do?"

Yu stared at the Shadow. "We need to protect Chie." The three ran across the room and were stopped by Chie.

"N-No! Don't come near me! Don't look at me!"

Yosuke shouted at Chie. "Chie! You need to calm down!"

Chie shook her head in denial, not even seeing the group. "N-No… this isn't me…"

Yosuke held his Nata's tighter. "W-Wait stupid! Don't say anything else like that!"

Shadow Chie chuckled as the original turned around. " _ **That's right. I'm the one who can't do anything alone… I can't win as a girl, let alone a person… I'm pathetic. But Yukiko… she depends on me…"**_ She chuckled. " _ **That's why she's my friend… I'll never loosen my grip on her… She's much too important to me…"**_ The Shadow smirked as she looked at Yu. " _ **And then there's this new guy trying to take her away from me! Everything was just fine before he showed up, so why did he have to transfer schools?! Why couldn't he have just stayed in his rightful place like he should?!"**_ The other Chie quickly became enraged as she stared Yu in his eyes. " _ **Oh he's so charming, so strong, so mysterious! Perfect for a guy like Yukiko! But why does she deserve him?! Why can't anyone ever see me FOR WHO I AM, INSTEAD OF OGLING AT THAT JAILBAIT BITCH?!"**_

Chie held her head. "Stop it! Stop saying things that I've never thought of! I've never thought of them like that!"

Shadow Chie chuckled grimly. " _ **So you're just gonna turn your back and deny me again?"**_ It shook its head. " _ **But things are different now. When the time comes… I'll be the one left standing. You won't mind right…? After all, I'm still you."**_

Chie looked at the ground and shook her head. "No… no! You-"

Yosuke's eyes widened. "Chie, don't!"

Chie looked up at her Shadow. "YOU'RE NOT ME!"

The purple smog was replaced by a black fog as the Shadow laughed hysterically. A wave of black fog pulsed from where the Shadow was, knocking Chie down and blinding the party for a moment. When the fog was revealed, the Shadow had transformed. It seemed to be sitting on top of three completely grey girls in a Yasogami uniform. The main body was wearing yellow studded knee high boots, yellow studded shoulder high gloves, a yellow studded bra, and presumably a yellow studded pair of panties, but her legs are crossed, so it's hard to tell. Covering her face looked… like a banana with holes cut out for the eyes and a smiley face drawn on top of it. It was… well, it made the Shadow all the less threatening. She wielded a whip with a spiked ring on the end of it in her left hand, and chains that were connected to the Yasogami girls necks in her right. And she also had long black hair as some form of cloak…? Yu couldn't tell, but he knew that it was dangerous, as four blades were attached to some of the hairs. Overall, does not look threatening. Just… odd.

Yosuke quickly pulled Chie's body back.

Teddie took Chie and dragged her far away. "Please! Use your powers to save Chie-chan!"

Shadow Chie cracked her whip on the ground. " _ **Kneel before me! For I am a Shadow, the true self! What do you guys think you're doing?! Trying to save the 'real me'?! Then you're gonna have to pay the price!"**_

Yosuke stared up at the Shadow. "Shut up! Quit being such a pain!" He then looked back at Chie. "Just hold on a little longer Chie…"

Shadow chie laughed mockingly. " _ **Think you can stop me that easy?!"**_

Yu quickly ran around the Shadow, trying to confuse it. "Teddie! Give me a weakness!"

Yosuke jumped back and summoned Jiraiya. His Persona rushed the Shadow and bashed into it using its shoulder.

Yu grimaced and then jumped into the air to slash Shadow Chie from behind. One of the bladed hairs blocked it. "Dammit! Persona!" He pushed off of the blade and slashed through the card as he blocked another blade. Izanagi immediately rushed the Shadow, dodging out of the way of the remaining blades. He slashed up the length of the Shadow's back. Yu was thrown back by a second blade. He quickly recovered and **Observed** the shadow.

 **Icy Dominatrix, Fiery Protector**

 **Shadow Chie**

 **HP: 1000/1000**

 **SP: 500/500**

 **STR: 18**

 **VIT: 32**

 **DEX: 15**

 **INT: 12**

 **WIS: 6**

 **LUK: 12**

Yu groaned and then dispelled Izanagi. "Dammit…" He rushed over to Yosuke and then pushed him out of the way of his Persona being thrown back at him. Yu summoned Izanagi to catch Jiraiya without harm and then dispelled him. "Teddie! How's that weakness coming?!"

Teddie groaned as he began to focus harder. "O-Oh! I think I have one! Use wind attacks!"

Yu smirked and shifted his **[Elemental Enhancement]** to his blade. "You hear that Yosuke? Don't hold anything back!" Yu summoned Izanagi again and had him use **[Cleave]** as a distraction. He smirked and ran under his Persona to slash at the legs of the bottom Yasogami girl. The girl screamed as she collapsed, sending the entire Shadow toppling. Yu was thrown back by Izanagi. He then summoned him to his position in the air. "Yosuke! Blast her!"

Yosuke nodded with a grin and had Jiraiya hit the Shadow with the most powerful **[Garu]** he could manage.

Yu did the same, except he was able to fire off multiple blasts at once before the Shadow got up.

 **HP: 691/ 1000**

He grimaced and then dispelled Izanagi as a blast of ice came from the Shadow. ' _That must be Bufu…'_

The Shadow began to laugh. " _ **How lame! You're all so deadly serious, and we've only gotted started! Now scream for me!"**_ Shadow Chie cracked her whip and a rain of thunder came down on the two other combattants.

Yu was able to get out of the area of effect, but Yosuke wasn't as lucky, as he screamed in pain as Jiraiya shattered. "Yosuke!" He rushed over to him as he fell on his ass.

The Shadow cracked her whip in the air multiple times, then swung down hard at Yosuke. " _ **Die! DIE ALREADY!"**_

Yu summoned Izanagi and sent him to block the strike. Well, he couldn't block it, but he shielded Yosuke from the blow and took it himself. Yu's back arched in pain as Izanagi was struck.

 **HP: 294/400**

 **Effect "Dizzy" negated by [Gamer's Mind]**

He ran over to Yosuke and then helped him up. "You good?"

Yosuke nodded silently and then glared at the Shadow. "You're gonna pay dammit!" He summoned Jiraiya and sent a gust of wind at the bottom Yasogami girl, knocking the Shadow over again. He then healed Yu with a **[Dia]** , then himself.

 **HP: 354/400**

Yu hit Shadow Chie with a **[Garu]** of his own, then attempted to stab down at the 'boss's head. Some of the hair quickly wrapped around him and then slammed him into a pillar, holding him there, slowly constricting him. The Shadow did the same to Yosuke, and began to laugh maniacally, constricting the both of them.

Teddie whimpered as he saw the Shadow look at Chie.

" _ **Time to end this! Goodbye me!"**_ A blade shot at Chie, intending to destroy her body.

Yu gritted his teeth as he tried to do something, anything! But he couldn't, all he could do was watch as Chie's inner self killed her.

" _Need a little help?"_

Yu looked up and saw the blue haired boy staring at him.

 **The Universe**

 **Minato Arisato**

 **LV: ?**

" _This is probably the only time I can do this, so make it count."_ The boy touched Yu's chest and a glowing blue aura surrounded him for just a moment.

Yu closed his eyes and when he opened them again, they were a burning blue.

" _Let us burn away our foes with the hymn of battle!"_

"Come! Orpheus!" A card formed in front of Yu and then shattered, releasing a new persona. It was mostly humanoid with red eyes, black skin, and white scraggly hair. It had a large, metal harp on its back, but the most interesting thing about this Persona is that besides its head, it was completely made of metal. Orpheus grabbed it's harp and strummed it violently. A burst of flames struck the Shadow, causing her to scream in mostly shock, causing the blade to stab into the door. The fire had lit the hair on fire, and the flames quickly traveled all across the hair, burning it completely, making Yu drop to the ground. He rushed the Shadow, feeling someone guiding his hand. He looked at his hand, seeing a metal one on it. He followed it up to whoever it belonged to and it was a much more human looking version of Orpheus. Yu watched as the form of the human Orpheus flowed into the blade, causing flames to coat it. With the wind enhancing the blade already… well, that's just science. The flames quickly became a raging inferno that actually harmed Yu from proximity.

Yu quickly shifted his focus back onto the Shadow and shifted his grip on his blade. He quickly sent 8 slashes at the Shadow, sending waves of fire at the now imposing form of Shadow Chie. Most of them missed her, but some of them hit their mark, easily knocking the boss then dragged the flaming blade against the ground, creating a trail of flames because of the carpet. Time seemed to slow as he pushed himself to run faster. It was clearly the adrenaline causing his perception of time to seem off, but he could feel the muscles in his legs tearing more by the second.

 **HP: 316/400**

He gritted his teeth as he slashed through the first Yasogami girl. There was nearly no resistance on the blade, not even bone. His eyes seemed to glow as he slashed through the second and third girls, and finally, he felt the bones in his legs shatter as he cut through Shadow Chie. He wanted to stop in a crouch to look like a character from an anime, but his lack of whole muscles or whole bones for that matter made his legs like jelly. He collapsed and tumbled into a wall.

Yosuke ran over to Yu as fast as he could, ignoring the dissolving form of Shadow Chie. "Holy shit dude! That was- You okay?!"

Yu checked his HP.

 **HP: 42/400**

He then feigned pain as he groaned. "I could go for a heal… or seven…" Yu was once again thanking **[Gamer's Body]** for not letting him keep his broken legs. ' _ **Log**_ '

 **Battle Log**

 **You have been "Constricted"**

 **You have temporarily gained the Persona: Orpheus**

 **[Sword Mastery] has gained a level!**

 **[Sword Mastery] has gained a level!**

 **[Sword Mastery] has gained a level!**

 **You have gained: Fire Affinity (Minimal)**

 **You have gained a level!**

 **You have gained 7000 Yen**

 **You have lost the Persona: Orpheus**

 **Your 'Katana' has been upgraded**

' _Upgraded…? What does that mean…?'_ Yu looked at his Katana and **Observed** it.

 **Katana (Sealed)**

 **The traditional blade of the Samurai. This blade has slight magical properties, though they are currently sealed. ?**

 **30 - 45 slashing damage**

 **\+ 15% Crit chance**

 **78% durability**

 **REQ: 15 STR**

Yosuke helped Yu to stand and walked him over to Chie, who was waking up. "Dude… what WAS that…?"

Yu kept panting as he somehow felt his eyes change back. "I… I don't know… I just knew that I needed to save Chie… and then that happened…" He looked over at Chie and then smiled as she looked up at the two of them.

Chie groaned as she tried to stand. "W-What… happened…?

Teddie simply helped her stand, still in awe at what he saw.

Yosuke paused in his step. "Chie! Are you okay?!"

Shadow Chie slowly stood up and stared blankly at Chie, looking afraid. Just like Yosuke's Shadow did.

Chie nodded and then stared back at her Shadow. "What's the matter…? Got nothing to say anymore…?!"

Yu grabbed Chie's shoulder. "Stop it… Chie… It's alright…"

Chie looked Yu in the eyes. "B-But…"

Yu just smiled at her. "I understand not wanting to face yourself… So does Yosuke… Everyone has different faces like yours, so you don't have to worry… Hell, your inner thought are probably tame compared to some other people I can think of…"

Chie teared up slightly. "H-Huh…?"

Yosuke nodded. "He's right Chie. I went through the same thing. So… I can understand. Everyone has a side like this."

Chie looked down at her feet, and then nodded. She looked back up at the two with a determined look on her face and wiped away her tears. Chie turned around and walked towards her Shadow, stopping just a few feet from it. "I'm… not sure that I really get it… but… I know that you're me… the part of me that… I wanted to hide from the world… one that I couldn't forgive… and tried to ignore… And… I can't ignore you anymore. You're me… and I'm you… right?"

Shadow Chie began to tear up as well, her eyes mirroring Chie's and the smog around her fading. She nodded happily as a blue light surrounded her. Her form blinded everyone as she quickly transformed into a Persona.

 **Hero of Awazu**

 **Tomoe**

 **For helping your friend gain the strength to face themself, you have gained +2 WIS**

As Tomoe shattered, the shards flowed into Chie and knocked her onto her back where she glowed blue for a second. She stood up again after a moment, turned towards the group, and then immediately looked away. "I-It's true that a part of me feels that way… But I wasn't lying about being friends with Yukiko!"

Yosuke grinned a bit and scoffed playfully. "Like we didn't know that already."

Chie sighed in relief as she fell onto her knees.

Yu took his arm back from Yosuke and kneeled down next to Chie. "Are you okay…?"

Chie nodded with a slight wince. "I-I'm fine… just… a little tired…"

Yu helped her to stand and gently led her over to Yosuke. "Come on, let's get you out of here."

Teddie sniffed the air a bit. "I don't smell any more Shadows Sensei. We should hurry!"

Yu nodded. "Yosuke, do you mind being the guard just in case any unexpected trouble pops up?"

Yosuke shook his head. "None at all. I'll take care of whatever shows up."

Yu smiled. "Then we should go."

Chie winced slightly with each step she took as the group led her out of the dungeon. "I-I can still keep going…"

Teddie shook his whole body. "You won't be able to fight in the condition you're in…"

"Teddie's right. We can't risk you getting hurt even more in here. We need to save Yukiko-san no matter what, and to do that, you need to be at full strength…" Yosuke opened the doors for the group, which are really easy to open for such large doors.

Chie stared at Yosuke, wearing a horrified expression. "B-But Yukiko's still in here, isn't she?!" She looked down at the ground, watching her feet pretty much drag across the carpet. "I-If those were her true thoughts… Then I have something that… I need to tell her…I-I'm not as strong as she thinks I am… It was always because she was with me…" She gulped slightly. "It… It was because we were together that I was able to act that way… If we weren't… I'd… probably break down completely…"

Teddie frowned a bit. "Well, then you need to get your strength back! Then you can tell her what you just told us!"

Chie looked at Teddie, clearly confused.

Teddie smiled as comfortingly as a bear could. "Yuki-chan's normal. The Shadow's don't attack normal people. They only attack when the fog lifts here."

Chie smirked a bit. "You… saying that I'm weird…?"

Yu tightened his grip on Chie a bit. "Watch your step. Stairs."

Yosuke looked over at Teddie. "So Yukiko-san will be safe until then, right?"

Teddie bobbed his whole body forward as a nod. "I'm sure of it!"

Chie looked up at Yu. "Why…? I don't… really get it…"

"Teddie told us that the weather here is opposite of our world. When it fogs over there, that's when the fog lifts here… and that's when the Shadows attack their victim…" Yosuke looked down in thought. "So… even if we leave for a while, Yukiko-san won't be in any danger until the fog starts to cover Inaba. I'm sure of that much. Cause it was the same way for Miss Yamano and… Senpai…"

Yu took over for Yosuke, seeing as it looked like it was a little too painful for him to continue. Saki HAD just died a few days ago after all. It seemed like much longer, as the author updates on a mostly weekly basis. (Hey! Stick to the story! The readers will get enough of that when I introduce someone special.) "Don't you remember how foggy it was on the days they were found… like that?"

Chie nodded and closed her eyes, stumbling a bit on the stairs. "Oh… Y-You mean that… they were killed by their other selves…?"

Yosuke nodded grimly. "T-The… The fog usually appears after it rains, so we should be safe until then…Even so, we should still rescue Yukiko-san as soon as possible." He then sighed to himself. "It's been sunny lately though… we should check the weather forecast when we get back."

Yu nodded in agreement. "Last step." After Chie stepped off of the staircase, he loosened his grip back to what it was before.

Chie looked back at the stairs. "We can't… go back now… we've come so far…"

Yu looked down at Chie. "That was only the second floor Chie. Don't worry. We'll make it back there easily."

"But Yukiko's all alone up there… she must be so scared…"

Yosuke scowled at Chie and stopped moving. "Then you tell me how much farther we have to go to save her!"

"T-That's…"

Yosuke stepped closer to Chie. "We don't know what's up ahead! The enemies might be even stronger! If we push ourselves to hard and end up dead, who will save Yukiko-san then?! We. Can't. Fail. No matter what. Am I wrong?"

Yu shook his head. "You're exactly right Yosuke. That's why we need to rest up. We can head in tomorrow after we rest up."

Chie nodded reluctantly. "… I-I'm sorry… about before… I… I shouldn't have rushed in like that…"

Yu patted Chie's back comfortingly. "Don't worry about it. We know how you feel. You wanted to save Yukiko, and wanted to get to her immediately. We can't blame you for wanting to save your friend."

Chie nodded reluctantly.

Yosuke took a deep breath and smiled. "No worries. We're gonna save Yukiko-san… right?"

Yu nodded with a smile. "No matter how hard it is, we'll save her. We have to."

* * *

Nyx giggled a bit as she saw the scene play out. "How cute. It seems that Nyarlathotep is in play again, and they've recruited another god to help them. This will be interesting, wouldn't you say Minato?"

Minato groaned as he deadpanned at Nyx. "Honestly Nyx, I'm getting really tired of your bullshit act that you don't care. You're just as relieved as I am that you're sealed away." He then clutched his chest as the barrier shook and a loud, menacing roar came from the other side.

Nyx nodded absently as she dragged her finger across whatever she was standing on. "… Do you ever wish that you could leave?"

Minato immediately nodded. "Nothing against you, but I'd rather not be in pain for the rest of eternity. Even though it has to be done."

Nyx kept nodding. "But… what if people could change? After so long-"

"Two years isn't THAT long…"

" _After so long_ … maybe someone can change them."

"You mean the grey haired kid? One person can't change the nature of the world."

"Then why did you lend Orpheus to him?" Nyx looked over at the blue haired kid, sitting in his white throne. Well, HER throne, but she was too lazy to climb into it."

"Because… he reminded me of myself. Fighting to protect someone."

"You mean that cute blonde robot? Or was it that busty redhead? Maybe the brunette archer? Oh! Maybe it was the shy one~"

Minato groaned and then watched as a tarot card appeared in his hands. He flipped it over and what was revealed was the twenty second card, the Universe. "You know that it would never work with the one I love."

Nyx appeared in front of Minato. "Oh~~~! So you DO fancy someone~!"

Minato deadpanned. "You know, for a Greek goddess, you're really such a bitch."

She then appeared above Minato and started to pat him on the head. "Ohhh~! I love you to Uni!"

"Stop calling me that Nyx!"

* * *

 **Again, sorry that it took nearly two weeks to update this, I was stuck for a while, but then I made a video and for some reason, I felt much better! And no, you can't find it anywhere. I deleted it right afterwards. So anywho~ I am now accepting Omakes! I feel like they will ease of the very slowly growing tension in this fanfic. In fact, here's our first one!**

* * *

 **My life as Dante part 1: Created by Saint of vice koncor**

Yu sighed as he fell onto his futon. He had a LOT of down time recently. With both Dante and Lolikano gone for some reason, and his friends all studying for the exams that he already knew he could ace, he really didn't know what to do. "Let's see… I could grind some skills… Nah. It's actually not fun without Dante or the Loli around… Slaughter some zombies? No… to boring…Eh, I'll think of something in the morning." He shrugged and closed his eyes, drifting off into sleep.

Soon after, he awoke in a black void.

 **Welcome player!**

Yu groaned loudly at the large window. "What now?!"

 **Rude. Aaaanyways, you have been granted the ability to live through the memories of someone close to you! I have taken the liberty of spinning the wheel of Social Links for you and guess who came up!**

Yu facepalmed. "Is it Dante…?"

 **Yep! You guessed it! Welcome to your nightmare! Oh, and once you leave this place, the Gamer power will be disabled as someone will "take over" and will have no idea how to manage the damn thing, so I'll just turn it off for now. I'd be surprised if they manage to even turn it on…**

Yu stood up as his clothes changed into Dante's. Specifically his DMC3 attire. "And pray tell, oh _mighty game master_ is this thing that's 'taking over'?"

 **Oh no one important. Just the good old Saint of Vice! Oh, and both Philemon AND Gaia approved of this so that you wouldn't be, and I quote, "such a nooby scrub lord". Huh. Didn't even know the old people knew gamer lingo.**

"And what the hell does any of that mean?!"

 **HEY! GET AWAY FROM THAT! NO! IT ISN'T READY YE-**

 _ **It means that you're my plaything. And trust me when I say that you won't be such a "noob" as the old people put it, when I'm done with you.**_

Yu stared at the new, black, glitchy window. "I… I feel very concerned."

 _ **You should be concerned. Maybe even afraid.**_

He groaned very loudly as he felt Ebony and Ivory form in his jacket. "Fine… let's just get this over with… I don't want to smell like pizza grease and ice cream forever."

* * *

 **Give a round of applause for our first Omake guys!**

 ***silence***

 **...Ooookay…. On another note, my girlfriend is doing a bit better, so that's always good, and I have a new poll up for those of you who are interested. It was obvious that the Harem option was going to win the last one, so I'm going to roll with it. Who will be in Yu's harem? Will it be someone from Persona 4? Maybe from three? Or maybe not from Persona at all! Could be all three, because he's going to have ONLY four people in his harem. I am not budging on this, as I think that four is a good number for a harem. However, you all get two choices on who you want to be in the harem, so I expect to see some variety and maybe even some competition! And I shall now answer the questions of our dear Saint of vice koncor!**

 **Saint of vice koncor: I went ahead and fixed that definition in the earlier chapter, and the evoker is for people that haven't mastered or accepted their inner self. Personae come out when someone is near death, and the Emulators… emulate death. So the persona is forced out of the body to protect the host, as it is tricked into thinking that both it and its host are about to perish. Minato Arisato was most likely able to do it because *SPOILERS FOR WHOEVER HASN'T PLAYED THE GAME* he had another person sealed inside of him, so he could draw on that psyche as well as his own to dual summon. *SPOILERS END* And no, it is not weird that you were rooting for that pairing. I just… didn't think that you would want Yu to date an older woman. Who's like… nearly 50 years older then he is. And I agree on the comment about his soulless eyes in the game. *shudders* And for your final review, it's just another poll decision, and that WOULD be to overpowered. A person who can heal with blood magic- oh, sorry, LIFE magic, and can also enter Devil Trigger? Soooo many people would be dead by the time that baby is 3.**

 **That's all I got for this AN, if you like this story, why don't you give it a quick follow, and if you have anything to say (except for pure flames or trolling) about this story at all, go ahead and leave a review, doesn't matter how long. I read them all, so don't worry about yours not being seen.**


	8. Rise of the Witch, Fall of the Magician

**Hello again everyone! So as most of you probably guessed, that last AN was an April Fools joke, but I was shocked with the amount of support regardless. Thank you so so much… And I don't want to seem like I'm brushing over the fact that I was a dick, but I don't think that many of you want to wait very long for this new chapter. So I'll put up the poll results right now.**

 **Marie: 14**

 **Rise: 13**

 **Labrys/Naoto/Lolikano: 8**

 **Chie/Mitsuru/Margaret: 4**

 **Yukiko/Yukari/Elizabeth: 3**

 **Yosuke/Sho/OC: 1**

 **So, right now it looks like the harem is going to be Marie, Rise, Labrys, with Naoto OR Lolikano. I'm actually slightly shocked at the variety that the poll has now! It's great, and if anyone else wishes to vote, the poll is on my profile if you want to check that out. Enough promotion for the poll though, because I'm… well, for those of you who've been here since the beginning of the remake, you know what this part is.**

 **blarg7865: I personally think that the Shadow cannot exist without the host, so I don't think that those particular Shadows will show up. However, for Namatame's Shadow, which was either left in there or was just showing them what he thought he would do…they'll… take care of it when it shows up. And Yosuke will find out on accident. I don't know when, but he'll find out before Naoto uses her detective skills.**

 **reydrago: I didn't have an exact number, however, I was thinking a little higher, like fifty or sixty. There is no such thing as practical farming at all. Or, if there is, then I haven't found it yet. And the Idea Paper… well, you'll just have to wait and see later on. ;p**

 **Kweh Viola: At first, I wanted to combine the four main Persona games before Persona 5, and I also wanted to use the Gamer idea from the manhwa of the same name in it. The first run through, I couldn't do it, now I believe that I can, as my view has changed. I now want to combine all of the Shin Megami Tensei games that I can and still make it a good story, and add some better excuse to awakening your Persona then just 'Accepting your hidden self'. In 3, all of the party members had some form of mental trauma or memories that they needed to suppress to live with themselves. That's what gave them the potential to summon Persona in the first place, so I'm adding that in. I'm basically trying to create my own ties with each of the games and as DMC used to be owned by the same company as Nocturne, I can add in the DMC universe. The more I developed the idea, the more possibilities I saw if I added in the element of 'The Gamer'. A power that can tie everything in this together ability-wise. At first it's going to be a retelling of Persona 4 Golden, then Arena, then Arena Ultimax, then Q. I refuse to do Dancing All Night. Then it'll be its own story, nearly entirely original, save for the characters. That's… way more then I planned to type, but yeah. That's the direction where this is going. As soon as I'm done with Q, I'm going to be using only my ideas to direct the story.**

 **Shadekiller13: I doubt that I'm one of the best writers on here, but thank you for the vote of confidence.**

 **Anyways, that's about it, though… I think that I'm going to have this one more about Dante and Lolikano. Enj- HEY! NO! GET OUT OF MY FRIDGE DANTE! THAT PIZZA IS NOT FOR YOU! AND LOLIKANO, YOU CAN WALK! YOU'RE BOTH LIKE CHILDREN!**

* * *

"Speech"/ "Different Language"

' _Thought'_

" _Telepathy"_

" _**Shadows"/ "Demons" / "Gods"**_

 **Windows/Skills**

* * *

Yu was 'fully recovered' by the time they reached the entrance again.

Chie was holding her head. "Ugh… I… I'm feeling worse then the last time I came in here… My head feels like it's about to split open… Are you guys okay?"

Yu nodded. "We're totally fine Chie."

Yosuke tapped his glasses. "It's probably thanks to these things." He then seemed to realize something. "Oh that's right! You aren't wearing these glasses."

Chie stared at the glasses, trying really hard to focus. "O-Oh yeah… those things… What's with those things anyways? Did your eyesight go bad?"

Yosuke shook his head, chuckling. "You didn't notice these until now? Man… how panicked were you?"

Teddie made a weird announcement noise and pulled out a yellow pair of the Teddie glasses "I made a pair for Chie-chan too!" He walked over to her, that squeaking sound still as loud as before. "Here you go!" He handed the glasses to Chie with a smile.

Yu eyed Teddie warily. ' _When did Teddie make those…?'_

Unknown to Yu, Yosuke was thinking the exact same thing and looking at Teddie the exact same way as well.

Chie shrugged and put her glasses on. She flinched back away from Yu, standing on her own two feet. "W-Woah! What the-… This is AWESOME! It's like the fog doesn't exist!" She stumbled in place as she felt her headache rapidly decline. "I-I'm fine…"

Yosuke was hesitant, but nodded. He then looked back at Teddie and glared at him. "Why the hell didn't you whip those out before if you had them?!"

Teddie growled in annoyance as he turned towards Yosuke and glared back. "I made them right now! You didn't tell me she was coming! It was all so 'sadden'!" He glanced at Yu, then looked away. "I-I mean… sudden."

Chie looked at Teddie, feeling her exhaustion slowly fading as well. "Huh… so this is the trick… I was wondering how you guys could see where you were going!" She crouched down a bit and looked Teddie where his eyes would be if he was turned towards her. "Hey." She tapped the bear's shoulder to get his attention. "Do you mind if I keep these?"

Teddie smiled and nodded. "Fo' sho!"

Yu sweatdropped. ' _How does he know how to talk in the first place? Let alone talk like someone on the internet…'_

Chie turned towards Yu and Yosuke. "We have to stop for now right…?" When she received nods in response she sighed. "Alright… But I'll be back with these puppies!" She tapped her glasses, which seemed to gleam in the light. She then glared at the two, her form seeming more menacing to Yosuke. "You two better not come here without me… Got it?!"

Yosuke nodded without hesitation, while Yu seemed to consider something. "Well, we'll be coming back as soon as you recover Chie, and I assume that you're feeling better?"

Chie nodded with a grin. She tried to pull off the Nice Guy Pose™ from Naruto, which is the thing that made Yu unsettled for some reason. But then she slumped down a bit, as even lifting her arms quickly like that was extremely exhausting for her. "I should be ready by tomorrow…"

Yu nodded. "We save Yukiko tomorrow, no matter what happens. Yosuke." Yu looked over at him. "Do you think that you can take Chie home today?"

Yosuke nodded. "Sure thing, but we have to promise each other something. No one goes in alone. It's way too dangerous here."

Chie nodded immediately.

Yu nodded as well.

Yosuke seemed determined once again. It seemed that awakening his Persona has encouraged him to truly try and become a better person. "We have to work together. If we don't, we can't save Yukiko-san OR solve this case… right?"

Yu nodded. "You're absolutely right Yosuke. I promise not to go in here alone." ' _I might not be able to visit Teddie as much…'_

Chie nodded again. "Yeah, I agree. I promise too."

Yu looked at Teddie, who seemed to be sulking a bit. He patted his head and crouched down. "Hey. I'll still be able to visit you. I'll just be bringing someone else with me. Okay bud?"

Teddie nodded and sighed with a smile. "Okay Sensei."

Yu patted Teddie's head again and stood back up, his face showing no emotion but determination. "Let's save Yukiko!"

Chie jumped in the air a bit. "Yeah!" She landed and wobbled on her feet. "Ugh… I need to slow down…"

Yosuke helped to steady Chie. "Alright… so from tomorrow on, we need to come here as much as we can after school. And that includes days off."

' _I can still train in the mornings then… Good.'_

Yosuke took a few steps away from Chie just in case and looked at Yu. "Hey… would you mind being our leader?"

Yu gasped quietly, hoping that no one heard. "W-What?"

Yosuke quickly explained before Chie tried to hurt him again. "You were the first to get this power. And you're WAY better in a fight then both me and Chie. I… I think it's best if you set the pace of the investigation, and we'll follow your lead. I'm cool with playing second banana."

Yu looked at the ground and adopted a thinking pose. ' _Hmm… I wonder if the game can explain this. Or at least has a window for it. Groups? Er…_ _ **Guilds**_ _?'_

 **Guilds List**

 **Owned**

 **None**

 **Joined**

 **Kirijo Group: Black Ops**

' _ **Create Guild**_ '

 **What would you like to name your Guild?**

' _ **Investigation Team.'**_

 **Guild: Investigation Team has been created!**

Yu then looked back up with a smile. "Leave it to me." He then thought of something. "Hey Yosuke. Does your healing spell also heal exhaustion?"

Yosuke looked surprised, but then shrugged. "I don't know, but I can give it a shot. You want me to heal Chie?"

Yu nodded. "We might go back in there today if it works."

Yosuke nodded and summoned Jiraiya. He cast a silent **[Dia]** spell on Chie.

Chie's eyes widened and then she smirked. "I don't know what you did Yosuke, but I'm feeling a lot better!"

' _She's probably mentally exhausted though, so she'll still need rest. I doubt that she can summon her Persona right now either.'_ "That's good, because we're going back to the castle. Something felt off when we left. You think that you can make it Chie?"

Chie nodded as she tried to summon Tomoe. " … Hey. Why won't mine come out?"

Yu turned towards where they came from. "You're mentally exhausted right now Chie. I bet that you can barely think. You'll still need rest. Now come on."

* * *

Dante sat on the roof of Dojima's house, just waiting for someone to show up. Like a little girl with pigtails, being followed by a busty blonde demon who looked like his mother. "It's about time Trish! I was getting bored."

Trish glared at Dante. "Can it. At least I'm working."

Dante smirked. "Actually, I'm working too. The grey haired kid is paying me to train him. He can make barriers with monsters that actually drop cash Trish!" He pulled a small stack of 1000 yen bills from his jacket. "Look at this! This is only from two days on the job! You know how much pizza I can get with this?!"

Trish slowly drew the Sword of Sparda. "Dante…!" Her whole body sparked menacingly.

Dante waved the cash in the air, then stored it in his jacket. "Yeah yeah, I know. All profits go into the company or some shit like that. But I still get paid a percentage."

Trish held two fingers to a device in her ear. "…I'll tell him." She then focused on Dante again. "You probably won't be getting paid for a while. We're still in massive debt, because of your 'Pizza and Hookers' party that you threw for Nero's bachelor party."

Dante groaned in annoyance. "I already told you that they were strippers! Hookers aren't classy enough! Besides, the last few prostitutes I've paid for have been demons. I wouldn't risk that."

"… You just said a word that's three syllables."

Dante turned to yell at Trish. "I say words longer then that! And we can't be set back THAT much!"

Trisk held two fingers to her ear again. "… We're $70,000 in debt because you refuse to pay for anything and have Lady's family pay for everything. So on top the debt, and the normal payments, you probably won't be getting paid for your junk food for a while."

"Oh come on Trish! Don't be a bitch!"

"Listen to me Dante. Or else I'll make you pay for my shopping again."

Dante groaned and held his head. "Jesus… you'd think that you were my mom or so- OH COME ON!"

* * *

Chie panted heavily as they approached the castle again, seeing the guards crossing their weapons across the entrance. "W-What the hell?! We're not allowed in?!"

Yu walked towards the entrance and the stone guards glared down at him. Before he could walk through the crossed polearms, a window popped up.

 **You cannot enter this dungeon again today.**

Yu sighed and turned around. He was going to walk away, but another window popped up.

 **You must be under the effect [Masked] to enter this dungeon again today.**

He then smiled, as the game had found a way around it. "Looks like we can't get in again today. It might just be a 'once per day' dungeon, or maybe because we defeated a 'boss', it's locked out for a time." ' _Or maybe it's resetting. Mitsuru said that she had experience with Shadows before… Maybe I should ask her about dungeons involving them.'_ Yu then glanced behind him and blocked two blows against him from the statues, being forced to his knees. He gritted his teeth as the ground cracked under him and his HP drained.

 **HP: 295/400**

"Get out of here!" Yu glared back at the group, already in this situation again. He was protecting them from something that he didn't think that they could survive.

Yosuke gritted his teeth and then summoned Jiraiya again to ram into both statues. It staggered both of them and got their weapons off of Yu.

Yu jumped back and then stared at the two guards, seeing if they would keep attacking. When they just crossed their weapons across the entrance again, Yu sighed. "So… we should probably go now." Yu waited for Teddie to go ahead of them before the rest of the group followed him back to the entrance. "So… what do you all really think of me being the leader?"

Yosuke smiled. "I thought that you would take the place. I'm more of an ideas guy anyways."

Chie nodded. "I'm with Yosuke. After seeing you fight my Shadow like that, I'd feel much more comfortable if you were the one calling the shots."

Teddie waved back at them and was smiling. "Oh! I'm with Yosuke too! If you're the one calling the shots, my pillow will be a lot comfier at night Sensei!"

' _He has a pillow? Well, there's that hotel…'_

Chie groaned in annoyance as they arrived at the entrance… again. "Teddie. Can you PLEASE stop talking? I'm really on edge right now!"

Teddie pouted as he opened the exit.

' _So… I've been made the leader of this Investigation Team… I get to set the pace, so I can keep people from getting hurt badly. I just hope that I don't fuck up.'_ Yu tensed up as he heard a shattering sound. A card appeared in front of him and then flipped over, revealing The Fool. He didn't know how he knew what it was, but he felt that it was right.

" _I am thou… and thou art I… Thou hast established a new bond… thou shalt be blessed when creating Persona of the Fool Arcana!"_

Yu's eyes widened as he _felt_ something shatter inside of him. The Fool card phased in front of him again, this time bound by ten chains. Cards for the Magician, the Hierophant, Justice, and the Chariot appeared with it. All at once, a single chain on each of them began to glow and then completely shattered, revealing more of the arcana.

 **Your power has been partially unsealed!**

 **You have gained access to the following Personae:**

 **Pixie**

 **Omoikane**

 **Slime**

 **Angel**

" _Master…? Can you hear me…?"_

' _Pixie?! Are you okay?!'_

" _I'm… still recovering… the others are too… but because of your intervention earlier, I'm strong enough to speak to you. But that's it."_

' _Do you know what happened?'_

Pixie seemed to hesitate. " _I'm not sure. I think that it was your social links unsealing your power like the game said. I'm of the Magician Arcana, so I believe when you became closer to the brown haired boy, it helped to unseal your ability and free me. Maybe the stronger your bond gets, the more of your power will be freed. I… I want my friends back… please… help them like you helped me...please Master…"_

 **!QUEST ALERT!**

 **Freeing the Fairies**

 **Main Objective 1: Reach rank 4 in the Magician SL**

 **Main Objective 2: Reach rank 4 in the ? SL**

 **Main Objective 3: Reach rank 4 in the ? SL**

 **Main Objective 4: Reach rank 3 in the ? SL**

 **Main Objective 5: Reach rank 7 in the ? SL**

 **Main Objective 6: Acquire the ? SL**

 **Reward: Reduction in (Mental Trauma) Status Effect, + 3 Levels in [Summon Persona]**

 **Failure: Power forever sealed, (Mental Trauma) Status Effect permanent.**

 **Do you accept this Quest?**

 **[YES/NO]**

Yu immediately thought 'YES'. The rewards were good and all, but he didn't care about that. He heard the desperation in her voice and wanted to help her. Even if she was a part of himself, he thought of her as her own being, as she was sentient and could think for herself.

 **For deeply thinking about the meta-sciences of the Soul, you have gained +1 WIS**

Yosuke waved a hand in front of Yu's face. "Dude, you okay? You spaced out there for a second."

Yu flinched a tiny bit when he saw Yosuke's hand. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. I was just a bit distracted. Could you give me a recap of what just happened?"

Chie was confused. Just a little. "We… just said that we were going to go. So are you coming?"

Yu nodded and looked back at Teddie, who waved goodbye. "I'll see you all tomorrow!"

Yosuke waved back as he stepped through the entrance.

"Yu."

Yu looked at Chie, who was about to leave.

"Thanks for saving me. Yosuke said that you were the one who kept the Shadow from getting me when you were at the entrance of the castle, and I can't thank you enough. Just… you know." She smiled at Yu and stepped through the entrance.

Yu smiled and then ruffled Teddie's fur on his head. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

Teddie smiled and nodded. "Got it Sensei! I'll be waiting!"

Yu nodded and then walked backwards into the entrance, not tripping this time.

* * *

Lolikano yawned as she laid down on the roof of the school. "Ugh… so bored… I wonder where that Yu kid went… hm?" She grabbed her broom and it pulled her out of the way of a sword slash.

"So, you're the one who's been tailing my employer." Dante slowly raised his blade up to his shoulder and glared at the little witch. "You don't look like much. You trying to sell him online?"

Lolikano stood on her own feet as her normal witch attire phased onto her. "You're one to talk. For all I know, you could be raising that kid like a pig for slaughter. Selling him to a mana factory would be cruel, making his parents think that he was missing. Oh right…" Her eyes were covered in shadows as she licked her lips. "I killed them. Sucked them dry then burned them to a crisp."

Dante's grip on his blade grew tighter. "What the hell…? Why would you do something like that?!"

Lolikano giggled as she raised her hands. "Because I felt like it! That's why~ No other reason… Son of Sparda." ' _This is a bad idea Mistream… don't worry though. You've prepared for strong guys like him.'_

Dante flinched and swung at Lolikano again, the 60 year old loli dodging his slash with ease. "How the HELL do you know about that?!"

Lolikano smirked as her eyes were revealed again. "You can get any kind of information in The Abyss. It cost quite a bit, but I know every single one of your tricks Dante. Even your so called 'Devil Trigger' that you use to end fights as fast as you can~" She then grabbed onto her broom and used it to fly up into the air to dodge his next attack. "Honestly… even with your ranged weapons, you can't get me. See this charm?" She dangled a gemstone that was attached to a necklace she was wearing. "This gives me a ward protecting from projectiles of all origin. If you're not holding it, then it won't get through~ Not even your electric bats!"

' _Dammit. She's forcing me to use it to fly… I'm gonna feel this in the morning.'_ "Fine!" A red and black energy spiraled around Dante. "You want me to come to you?!" The demonic energy surrounded him as Lolikano made a barrier to escape to. He yelled as a show of power when his Devil Trigger activated. He summoned Nevan and broke his way into Lolikano's barrier. " _ **THEN I'LL COME TO YOU!"**_ Demonic looking wings sprouted from his back and he launched himself towards the witch. He practically appeared above her as he swung down at Lolikano with Nevan in scythe form.

Lolikano gasped a bit and then wordlessly formed her Scythe of Life to counter it. With all of the assholes she had to clear while watching over Yu, she had plenty of life energy to spare. She smirked and then pushed Dante back with a simple wind spell. That was the easy part about winged enemies, they could be pushed off of you easily. "Wow! You pack quite the punch for a glorified bat!"

" _ **Don't underestimate me witch!"**_ He flickered behind Lolikano and slashed at her again, which was deflected by her own magic scythe.

Lolikano smiled as she stared into Dante's demonic eyes. "Aww~ Is the big bad demon being beaten by a little girl~?" She quickly spun around and hit Dante in the chest with a wind infused strike from her scythe. "For one of the top ranking warriors, you aren't much!"

" _ **SHUT THE HELL UP ALREADY!"**_ Dante glared at Lolikano as he switched over to Gilgamesh. His form became much more reptilian then Nevan's form as he actually did disappear and reappeared both above and below the witch.

Lolikano flipped backwards and dispelled the Dante clone. "That's your Doppelganger style! All it takes is one hit to take care of the clone though, making it kinda useless!" She spun around in the air fast enough to look like a spiral with a red streak in the middle. She made an arrogant noise as she launched her scythe at Dante, who flickered out of the way of the scythe, which cut through the building like it was nothing. The scythe appeared in Lolikano's hands just in time to allow her to block the flurry of blows that Dante attacked her with. Her arms were a blur, barely able to match Dante's striking speed enough to block his blows. She gritted her teeth as she started to get pissed off. "Enough!" She blasted Dante down with an air spell and then appeared behind him using a teleportation spell and slashed at his back. Everything went silver for a split second and Dante struck at Lolikano from behind, which she was barely able to bend herself out of the way fast enough to dodge a killing blow. "Quicksilver! You can still manipulate time!"

" _ **You bet I can bitch!"**_ He switched over to Agni and Rudra, causing his wings to fade away and spikes appearing all over his body. His body began to emit an orange aura and he began to strike at Lolikano, clearly slower, but much more powerful as his strikes were enhanced with the elements of Fire and Air. " _ **Now watch THIS!"**_ He jumped back and combined the two blades and began to spin them right above him. A tornado of flames quickly formed around Dante. He flashed out of the tornado and then yelled shortly as he launched it at Mistream.

"Shit!" Lolikano quickly recited the chant to an air spell and held her breath as she created a vacuum around the barrier, immediately snuffing out the tornado. She ended the spell and saw Dante drop to his knees, desperately trying to breath. She then flew directly over Dante, who had been forced to exit his Devil Trigger. "A little lesson for the future Dante!" She became deadly serious as she raised her hand to the sky. A very large black orb of Dark Magic formed above her. "Don't fuck with a witch!" She threw the orb down at Dante, who had just looked up at her.

Everything flashed silver again as Dante stood facing her on a red glyph. "Is that all you got shorty? Cause if it is, I'm gonna have to end this before I get bored, so, if you don't mind." Dante activated Quicksilver again and was about to strike Lolikano through her heart when the world flashed red and the witch blocked Rebellion with her scythe.

"You think you're the only one who can manipulate time?" She giggled as she began to strike Dante with her scythe at speeds faster then light, thanks to a bracelet that she was wearing. Not like she'd ever say that. The necklace was just a bluff anyways, and he was to stupid to fall for it. A magician never reveals her secrets.

Dante struggled to block the slashes from the scythe and grimaced. ' _Who the hell is this woman?!'_

Lolikano smirked as she kept attacking the half devil. She was really glad that she was wearing eyeliner that constantly restored her stamina, keeping her from getting tired. She had really prepared for everything against Dante. Lolikano was now certain that she could win. It's just a matter of who gives up first. "You know, I thought that you would be stronger then this Dante! I mean, I know that I'm a battle mage, but the power difference shouldn't be THIS much!"

Dante gritted his teeth as he jumped away from the witch, panting for just a second. "What the hell are you made of?! You're matching me in everything!"

Lolikano grinned evilly as her scythe grew extremely large, yet it was still as light as ever. The handle was bladed now, except for the part that she was holding. "It's simple Dante! I'm a witch! You can't beat me!" She swung the giant scythe at Dante, the attack still faster then light.

Dante was barely able to block the slash and then smirked. ' _Gotcha.'_ He grabbed onto the bladed handle and then flipped onto the scythe. He dashed towards Lolikano with Gilgamesh equipped and then sent a punch at her once she was close enough.

Lolikano barely dodged the punch. "Dammit! I will admit that you're pretty good! Not many people can heal fast enough to do what you did. Usually they just die."

Dante just started attacking her again, now focusing, each blow just as fast as Lolikano's were.

Lolikano flipped off of her broom and stood on the handle of her scythe to dodge Dante. She then looked to her left, towards the fake Junes. "As much as I've enjoyed this, I have a job to do! She jumped onto her broom and shifted her scythe into a black rose and tossed it at Dante. "Ciao~!" Lolikano exited the barrier and left Dante staring at the rose.

"… Is this… what I do…? This is what it feels like…?" He crushed the rose in his hand and yelled at nothing. "GOD DAMMIT THAT IS SO ANNOYING!"

* * *

Yu landed in a crouch as he fell out of the TV. He dusted himself off, making jangling noises from his chain shirt.

Yosuke looked around and saw that no one saw them that they know of, so he walked over to Chie. "Let's get you home Chie." He looked back at Yu with a smile. "I'll stay over at her house, make sure that she sleeps instead of trains. See you at school Leader." He walked away, holding Chie gently, just in case she became physically exhausted again.

Yu sighed as he pulled out his phone. He was about to call Mitsuru, when he felt a dangerous presence. "Oh no…"

"Yu-chan~!"

Yu groaned loudly and turned around to see Lolikano skipping towards him. "I swear to god… this woman is so… so annoying."

Lolikano smiled when she stood on her toes to look up at him. "You're still here? I thought that you would be gone by now!" ' _This feeling… he's gotten stronger. Somehow, I can feel fire coming from him.'_

Yu sighed and looked back to where Yosuke walked away. "Yeah, Yosuke begged me to help him stock shelves during the daily sale, and I can't just say no to my friends."

 **Lie Failed!**

' _Shit!'_

"Hmm…~ You should still be gone by now~" ' _He's hiding something. I'm sure of it. Better to not pry though.'_ Lolikano smiled with her eyes closed. "Anyways, I'm still pretty new here, so do you think that you can show me around town…~?" She looked at Yu with the infamous puppy eyes.

' _Son of a… mouth, don't you dare!'_ "Sure, why not? It's not that late anyways." ' _Why…?'_

" _I… I think that I like her Master!"_

' _Not helping Pixie!'_

Lolikano hugged Yu 'happily' "Thank you! I'll be sure to give you some _extra credit_ for this~"

Yu groaned softly. "Can you run fast?"

Lolikano nodded and stretched a bit. "Yep! I was top of my class in athletics in college!"

Yu eyed her warily, not sure if she was kidding or not. "Okay, then let's go."

* * *

Lolikano giggled as Yu approached the Amagi Inn. "I assume that you're staying here for the time being?"

The woman nodded with a smile. "Today was so much fun! I wonder if I should just give you good grades in my class if we keep doing this~"

Yu chuckled a tiny bit. "I appreciate the gesture, but I'd rather work hard and study the material instead of coast on your favor." ' _Plus I can get INT points!'_

Lolikano smirked a bit. "Good, because I wouldn't let you have good grades in my class for just one good day." She stretched a bit, yawning. "Anyways, I have to get my outfit ready for tomorrow. I'll see you then Yu~" She blew him a kiss as she walked away, really enjoying teasing him.

Yu dodged out of the way of the fake kiss for some reason, then thought a bit. ' _She's… alone, so she tries to get attention however she can, and the best way just happens to be through flirting.'_

" _She reminds me of Leanan Sidhe, always alone, and always yearning. Every time they find someone that they fall in love with, the human is driven to madness… Poor woman…"_

Yu nodded to himself as Lolikano entered the Inn. "…So she's lonely, and flirts with people for attention. That's… not nearly as bad as I thought she would be." At that moment, Yu heard another cracking sound and a chained up card formed in front of him. "Again?"

" _I am thou… and thou art I… Thou hast created a new bond… thou shalt be blessed when creating Personae of the Devil Arcana!"_

Yu didn't really like the sound of that Social Link, or the sound of the chain shattering.

 **You have gained access to the Persona: Ukobach**

' _Yeah… Definitely don't like the sound of that… Then again, Ukobach is the demon of frying and fireworks… so maybe I'm good at cooking now?'_

 **Recalling the true meaning of your persona and looking past its stigma of a demon, you have gained +1 WIS and have recalled the skill [Cooking]!**

 **Cooking** **(Passive): LV: 3 EXP: 19.75%: The art of the blade is not only for battle. It can be just as deadly in the kitchen.**

 **\+ 20% chance in succeeding in creating food.**

 **\+ 15% quality to cooked food.**

Yu stared at the window, then chuckled, actually humored by what the game was telling him. "Well, how generous of you game. I thought that I would have to cook a lot to get that skill." He pulled his phone out from his 'pocket' and then called Mitsuru.

Mitsuru sighed as she looked around the board of advisors. She checked her phone and saw that it was Yu. She abruptly stood and glanced at the people in suits. "Excuse me for a moment." She walked out of the meeting room and towards her office as she picked up the phone. "This had better be important Narukami."

Yu gulped a bit from her tone as he began to walk towards Dojima's house. "So… hypothetically, if I were to end up in a Shadow… let's call it a nest. If one of those were to appear, what would the layout be like?"

Mitsuru dashed to her office at the mere mention of the word 'Shadow'. She flicked a switch and her office became everything proof. "How hypothetical are we talking here?"

"The kind of hypothetical that you'd probably be mad at if you came over here."

Mitsuru glared at her phone. "Any odd things happening around you?! Like there being a green moon, or water turning into blood, or people becoming coffins?!"

Yu was taken aback by her sudden concern. "What? No! Well, not that… I've noticed. There is this weird B-Show that only comes on at midnight, starring kidnapped people."

Mitsuru calmed down slightly. "Alright… kidnapped. Anything else? Yamagishi has been monitoring your position, and she hasn't reported to me yet."

Yu considered telling Mitsuru as he waited for the crosswalk to tell him to go. "On a scale of one to ten, how odd is multiple Persona users popping up?"

"Eleven."

"Wow. Okay. Yeesh. So, there have been two more Persona users appear in the span of four days. And I was present for both of them."

Mitsuru sat down at her desk with a sigh. "I'll make a note on that. Anything else…?"

Yu hummed a bit. "Oh yeah. There is one thing." His face nearly came out from Mitsuru's smart phone. "WHY IS THERE A VERY VERY POWERFUL WITCH HERE?!"

Mitsuru nearly dropped her phone at Yu's… terse tone. "Yu-san, please refrain from enraged outbursts while on the phone. And the answer is simple. I hired her to observe the situation. Usually the awakening of a Persona user means that something awful has, or will happen. Now that you have reported the information of two more awakened Persona users, I believe that employing her to assess the situation was the correct move. Is there anything else…?"

Yu hummed a bit as his pace increased. "Well, one more, if you don't mind it being personal."

Mitsuru began to look over documents that required her attention, as she was told that she left at the conclusion of the meeting. "I don't believe that I will mind the question until you ask it. Go right ahead."

"The leader… sorry, field leader of SEES…" He took a deep breath, deciding to choose his words carefully. "Did he ever utilize the Persona by the name of Orpheus?"

Mitsuru froze on the spot. ' _How does he know that?! Only we knew of that… there is no possible or feasible way for him to gain access to that knowledge!'_ "Y-Yes… why do you ask…?"

Yu smirked. ' _So the field leader's name was Minato Arisato… now… just who are you…?'_

 **!QUEST COMPLETE!**

 **Learning the Past**

 **Main Quest: Learn the name of the Shadow Operative's past Field Leader**

 **Reward: Quest line unlocked! 500 EXP**

 **!QUEST ALERT!**

 **The Dark Hour (1/?): Shadow Hunt**

 **Main Objective 1: Kill 10 Shadows within an hour**

 **Main Objective 2: Speak to Mitsuru about Minato Arisato**

 **Side Objective 1: Kill 20 Shadows within an hour**

 **Side Objective 2: Kill 50 Shadows within an hour**

 **Side Objective 3: Slay ?**

 **Main rewards: Quest line continued, 1000 EXP, 5000 Yen, Increased closeness to the Kirijo Black Ops members, increased closeness to Minato Arisato, Increased closeness to ?**

 **Side rewards: Weapon(most used) mastery levels per objective, 30 random skill cards per objective completed, 500 EXP per objective**

 **Failure: End of quest line, some Social links locked out, Inability to call power from the ? Arcana, Death of Minato Arisato.**

 **Do you accept this Quest Line? (note, new, linked quests will be given upon completion, regardless of acceptance.)**

 **[YES/NO]**

Yu tapped **[YES]** as per usual and then sighed. "First, you have to promise me that you won't send anyone else out here unless I need backup, okay?"

"Noted. Now, report." Mitsuru grabbed a pen and was preparing to write down Yu's every word.

"There's no sense in keeping things… fuzzy. Whilst I was engaged in battle with another Persona user against a powerful Shadow, we were both pinned and the Shadow was free to execute her target."

"Wait, her?"

"Yes, this Shadow had a legitimate gender. Anyways, I was unable to get free, and… well, this is where things get a little… let's just say that it could be misinterpreted as something else. I wanted to save the target from death, no matter the cost, and this boy with blue hair appeared before me. He was wearing a Gekkoukan uniform with an armband that had the acronym for Specialized Extracurricular Execution Squad, or SEES, if you wish to say the acronym."

Mitsuru stopped writing for a moment. "Did you say blue hair…?"

"Yes. He had grey eyes, if that was going to be what you asked next." ' _The exact same eyes as me. Well, in color. Even though he's dead, he seemed to have much more life in them than me. Maybe that's why he helped me…'_

Mitsuru choked back a sob as she covered her mouth, allowing Yu to hear that she actually has emotion. "C-Continue your report… Narukami-san."

"Yes ma'am. He simply asked if I needed help, and a misty blue orb was absorbed into my chest. He also said that he could only do whatever he did once. I didn't know what he did at the time, but… I believe that he lended me his Persona for a time."

"W-What… What did he say to you…? Orpheus, I mean…"

Yu sighed as he faked trying to remember. "He… He said 'Let us burn away our foes with the hymn of battle' or… I believe that's what he said."

Mitsuru chuckled softly as she cried over her papers. "Yes, t-that does sound like Orpheus. He was always so serious, but urged Minato to protect us from danger…"

Yu was surprised at the amount of raw emotion coming from Mitsuru's voice, especially after their last… few encounters.

Mitsuru wiped the tears from her face and then cleared her throat. "W-Well, if that is all… thank you for reporting this Narukami-san. Though, if you have the time, and I'm sure that you'll find it, could you type up a written report of your encounters with the Shadows? I'm sure that I'll find some time to read over it personally."

Yu smirked. "Of course Kirijo-san. I'll have those typed up right away. You have a good evening, and whenever you're feeling _blue_ , just give me or one of your other friends a call. I'm sure that they'll be happy to hear the news that this 'Minato' might still be alive in some form." He hung up and then checked the time. "I should get back. Nanako might be getting worried." He entered a barrier and ran as fast as he could towards Dojima's house.

Mitsuru couldn't stop crying at all at the news. They all knew that Minato had sacrificed himself to seal Nyx away, but they had also thought that he had perished completely. She shakily picked up her office phone and dialed the number to the Black Ops H.Q. The secretary there picked up the phone.

"Yes, Kirijo-san?"

Mitsuru steadied her breathing. "Gather all of the Black Ops agents at Headquarters now. Except for one Narukami Yu."

"Yes Kirijo-san, but, if I may ask, why exclude him?"

"Because he brought me the information that I need to relay to the rest of the agents. Now call them in."

"Yes, at once."

* * *

Yu was sitting down at the dinner table with Dojima and Nanako. Apparently, he had still arrived early in the day, or at least two hours before Dojima himself came home. The news was left on, and they pretty much tuned it out as they ate, though it helped with the silence.

"That's all for world news tonight. Coming up next, the local news."

Dojima stopped eating for a moment, "…Hm…" He looked down at the table in thought, a stern expression on his face. He looked towards Yu, still wearing the same expression. "…Hey. Mind if I ask you something…?"

Yu looked over at Dojima and then shrugged. "Go right ahead."

Dojima nodded slightly. "You… aren't getting involved in any strange business, are you?"

Yu took another bite of his rice and then shook his head. As soon as he swallowed he spoke up. "I don't believe so, but I might be getting involved without knowing it. Happens a lot in the bigger cities. Do you mind being more specific?"

Dojima sighed softly. "I don't think that this is about you, but I overheard one of the guys at work saying something about a teenage kid from the big city swinging weapons around in Junes."

Yu's eyes widened slightly. "Oh, that. No, that wasn't me, that was Yosuke Hanamura, I was the one who convinced the officer to walk away. He was just being stupid."

"Oh? And what exactly was he doing?"

Yu shrugged. "Just testing out the feel of the weapons for a costume he's making. I watched him put the weapons back, so you have nothing to worry about."

 **Lie successful!**

Dojima sighed softly. "Well, that's a relief. At first, I thought that I would have to talk to your mother about your behavior.

Yu scoffed under his breath. ' _Yeah. Like she'll give a damn…'_ "Well, you don't have to worry about that. I'll be on my best behavior. Or, the best behavior that I can manage right now."

Dojima nodded. "Alright then. That's all I can really ask of you. But if there's anything that you need to tell me, then don't be afraid to tell me, alright?"

Yu nodded with a fake smile, which I'm sure that Dojima has seen hundreds of times before. "I will, you don't have to worry about that either." He looked back at his food and realized that he suddenly felt sick to his stomach, as his parents were mentioned. "Um… May I be excused? I have to study for tomorrow."

Dojima nodded at Yu.

Yu stood, took his dishes to the kitchen, washed them himself, and then went up to his room to study up on his mythology.

Nanako looked at the stairs, then at her father. "…Are you two fighting?"

* * *

Yu glared at Dante, who was trying to get into his laptop again, failing at guessing his password.

"Dammit… what the hell could it be…?!"

Yu shook his head and then cleared his throat, making Dante jump into the air and fall onto the couch.

"Sup kid. What's going on?"

Yu groaned and just walked over to his laptop and entered the password 'Shadow' and started to look up related searches for Jiraiya and Tomoe.

Dante walked back over to Yu and looked over his shoulder at what was on the screen.

"Hmm… Jiraiya… no, not looking for the pervert in Naruto… ah. Here it is. 'Originally known as the Ogata Shuma Hiroyuki is the toad riding character of the Japanese folklore _Jiraiya Gōketsu Monogatari'_ … 'a ninja who uses shapeshifting magic to transform into a giant toad'… That explains some things about that battle… Now what about Tomoe… 'Tomoe Gozen was a late twelfth-century female samurai warrior known for her bravery and strength… at the Battle of Awazu in 1184, she is known for beheading Honda no Moroshige of Murashi…' … The Hero of Awazu…"

Dante nodded his head a bit. "Interesting stuff. So, what does all of this Japanese history crap mean to you?"

Yu closed out of the tabs and began to do his homework, his voice distant and slightly guarded. "Something that you don't want to be dragged into…" He quickly completed his homework and began to research European Mythology.

"And… why are you looking at European history crap?"

"New teacher… she teaches European history… name's Lolikano Mistream, short, long pink hair…"

Dante gritted his teeth.

"Kinda flirty… looks like a 15 year old cheerleader… you might've run into her at some point."

"Yeah… she… she sounds familiar…" Dante said through gritted teeth.

 **You sense a dangerous presence.**

Yu looked behind him and saw the power radiating off of Dante. "You okay Dante? You look like you're about to murder someone."

"I'm fine! I just… need to murder some _things_ like zombies."

Yu checked the time. ' _11:59'_ "Just wait a minute and we'll go out to kill things."

Dante grumbled as he crossed his arms.

The clock struck Midnight.

' _ **[Rengoku]!'**_

The clock stopped at its current time as the moonlight coming into the room became green.

Yu smirked as he saw Dante baffled.

"W-Where are we?! What the hell did you do?!"

Yu chuckled darkly as he walked over to the windows.

 **!WARNING!**

 **This dungeon may only be open for an hour each day before it is forcibly destroyed.**

He took note of that and then looked outside seeing some shadows that he had never seen before, as well as some very familiar ones. There seemed to be dozens, if not hundreds of them. "Different enemies. You wanted something new, right?"

Dante quickly realized what that meant and grinned as he took Rebellion off of his back. He walked over to stand next to Yu, and then flinched at the sight of the Shadows. "W-What the hell are those things…?"

"We call them Shadows." Yu looked down on the monsters. ' _Pixie, are you okay for combat?'_

" _Not yet… I think that I'm almost done recovering though."_

' _Good. Because I don't want you guys in any more pain.'_

Dante looked at Yu like he was crazy. "What do you mean 'we'?!"

Yu opened the window, and the scent of fresh blood hit the two hard as the wind blew into the room. He stepped out of the room and turned back towards Dante, the green moonlight making him look slightly evil. "People like me, Dante." He jumped off of the roof, took his Katana from his inventory, and then slashed through a card as he landed in a crouch. "Izanagi!" Yu's eyes gleamed slightly as Izanagi formed behind him. He stood up slowly and smirked as he rushed towards the first Shadow he saw. A hablerie. He coated his blade with lightning and slashed through it, dealing enough damage to kill it instantly. Yu looked up at Dante while the Shadows began to rush him. "You gonna just watch up there or are you going to join in on the fun?!" He whispered **[Mazio]** and channeled the attack through his Persona, instantly frying a layer of the enclosing Shadows.

Dante just stared at Yu. ' _He's never been like this before, even during training. He's always so reserved, cautious, and… boring. Here he's confident, and slaughtering monsters. What happened to him…?'_ He kept watching.

Yu sighed as he attempted to enhance his blade in fire at will for the first time. Small flames with rising embers formed around his sword. He grinned. "Oh I like this." He looked up at Izanagi, whose weapon was enhanced the exact same way. He swung his weapon in a sharp slash to the right, which his Persona mimicked. "… Go nuts." Yu felt Izanagi grin.

Izanagi shot towards the first Shadow he saw and sliced it in half. He then jumped back from a flying fish thing trying to ram into him. He shot a **[Mazio]** at it and the Shadows around it, killing them instantly. He then flew over to one of the unfamiliar ones. It was… goopy.

 **Frivolous Maya**

 **LV: 11**

 **HP: 125/125**

 **SP: 83/83**

 **STR: 8**

 **VIT: 5**

 **DEX: 12**

 **INT: 7**

 **WIS: 1**

 **LUK: 7**

Izanagi simply slashed through it with ease. He then reappeared next to Yu, as he was summoned once again.

Yu looked at the various gloopy things. "So, you're Maya's huh? You look like some things I killed before they turned into those balls. Must be a base shadow, because I see so many of you. He then saw an unfamiliar Shadow that wasn't a big thing of goopy, black sludge.

 **Dancing Hand**

 **LV: 13**

 **HP: 88/88**

 **SP: 46/46**

 **STR: 7**

 **VIT: 4**

 **DEX: 9**

 **INT: 15**

 **WIS: 6**

 **LUK: 10**

"That's a new one. I guess that the stats really are different for enemies." Yu smirked, then jumped out of the way of a large ice spikes shooting from the ground. "Shit! Izanagi!"

The Persona nodded and shot over to the hand and killed it immediately.

Yu and Izanagi kept slaughtering the near endless hoards of Shadows until they began to run away. He was going to smirk, but he felt something staring at him from behind. He slowly turned around and saw the mask of some of the Shadows being held up close to him by an amalgamation of jet black hands. Some of them were holding needles. Really really sharp needles.

 **The Magician**

 **LV: 35**

 **HP: 1000/1000**

 **SP: 5000/5000**

 **STR: 21**

 **VIT: 30**

 **DEX: 27**

 **INT: 30**

 **WIS: 10**

 **LUK: 5**

Yu stared back at The Magician, or rather, into the mask. "Say… your face looks familiar. Are you on these big balls of sludge that float around here?"

The Magician tilted its mask in confusion, then pulled it back quickly and readied its needles.

"Yeah, I thought that would happen." Yu jumped back, using a **[Garu]** directly in front of him to gain more height on his jump. "Dante! This one is going to be a little too much for me to handle! I need your help!" He landed on the roof of a neighboring building, then rolled out of the way of a needle that stabbed into the roof.

Dante finally broke out of his thoughts and jumped out of Yu's room, then fired a couple of shots at the very large Shadow. "Hey! Ugly! Why do you need all those hands? Is it for getting paid by guys on the street?!"

The Magician slowly turned its mask towards Dante and then lumbered towards him.

Yu summoned Izanagi to him. "Get all the loot."

Izanagi nodded and slashed at the Shadow a few times before getting to loot gathering.

The Magician tried to attack Izanagi, but Dante cut off the arm that was stabbing at the Persona. "Oh no. Your target is me!" He switched to Ifrit and started punching at the Magician. When fire didn't work, he switched over to Cerberus. When THAT didn't work, he summoned a blade that was crackling with lightning. "Been awhile since I used Alistor. Can't get rusty." Dante spun his blade in the air like a buzzsaw, chopping of some of the many limbs on the Shadow. He grinned as he used quicksilver to get out of the way of a flurry of strikes coming from the giant monster. "Honestly, the witch was harder to fight then you!" He tried to stab into whatever was connecting the arms together. A base. He didn't find one, and was grabbed by the Shadow. For whatever reason, he couldn't escape its grasp.

Izanagi dropped all of the loot behind Yu and then shot over to Dante and hacked at the arms, trying to set him free.

Yu quickly put all of the loot into his **Inventory** and ran over to distract the Shadow. He activated **[Cleave]** on himself and then slashed a few of the arms off in one stroke. "Hey! Asshole!" He jumped back a bit so that the Shadow could see him perfectly. "I'm the one who killed all of your minions! So come and get me!"

The Magician stared at Yu for a while, then dropped Dante. It lumbered over to Yu, like it was mocking him.

Dante panted softly and looked up at Izanagi. "If the kid can hear from you, then be careful! He sucked my energy out of me! If not, tell him that!"

Izanagi nodded shot in front of Yu, blocking a thrust from a needle.

" _Master. The Devil wished for me to tell you not to get touched by this beast. It drained his energy."_

Yu nodded, barely recognising Izanagi's voice from when he awakened. "Then let's make sure that it can't." He activated **[Cleave]** again and chopped through a couple of hands that were trying to grab at him. He jumped on top of Izanagi, who launched him into the air.

Izanagi spun his naginata in the air before releasing a flurry of slashes at the Shadow, dismembering it more, and catching its attention. For all of its hands, it seems terrible at multitasking. The Persona deflected the needles with ease as he was stricken with them.

Yu looked directly in the middle of the Shadow and saw that all of the hands were sewn together directly in the center. He flipped around in the air and used another **[Garu]** to launch himself towards that weakness. He activate **[Cleave]** once more as he slashed right through the threads, severing at least a quarter of the arms. He rolled out of the way of the other hands and looked over at Dante. He was still getting his energy back, so Yu hit the Shadow from behind with a **[Mazio]** to take the heat off of Izanagi.

Izanagi smirked under his mask and cut off the hands of the limbs keeping the Shadow upright. He then shot past it, slicing at the threads just as Yu did, reducing the arm total once again.

Yu groaned a bit. "This thing just keeps getting more and more annoying."

" _Souji-san!"_

' _What is it Pixie?'_

" _Have you tried going for the mask? It seems to act as the head for this thing. You break that, you should be able to kill the Shadow."_

' _T-That's… why didnt I think of that before…?'_

" _Technically you did."_

' _No sass right now please…You hear her Izanagi?'_

Izanagi nodded and blocked Yu from another strike from the Shadow. " _You're distracted! Focus!"_

Yu nodded as his **[Gamer's Mind]** kicked in. His eyes became cold as he stared at the Shadow. "Izanagi. Give me a boost."

Izanagi nodded and tossed Yu into the air. He then slashed at the Shadow to keep its attention on him.

Yu grinned as he raised his blade above his head and slowly swung down as he fell until he was right in front of the mask, when he slashed his blade, hopefully, through the mask. He wasn't disappointed as he watched the mask slowly slide in half. As he watched the body melt into black goop and disintegrate, seeing a lone blue mask, a skill book, 5 Lowest-grade Health Potions, and about… 50000 Yen from the boss drop. He put all of them in his **Inventory** and then checked his battle log

 **Battle log (Sorted)**

 **You have gained a level!**

 **You have gained a level!**

 **[Cleave] has gained a level!**

 **[Detect Bloodlust] has gained a level!**

 **[Detect Bloodlust] has gained a level!**

 **[Detect Bloodlust] has gained a level!**

 **[Detect Bloodlust] has gained a level!**

 **[Elemental Enhancement] has gained a level!**

 **[Elemental Enhancement] has gained a level!**

 **[Garu] has gained a level!**

 **[Garu] has gained a level!**

 **[Mazio] has gained a level!**

 **[Sense Danger] has gained a level!**

 **[Sense Danger] has gained a level!**

 **[Sense Danger] has gained a level!**

 **[Sense Danger] has gained a level!**

 **[Sense Danger] has gained a level!**

 **[Sense Danger] has gained a level!**

 **[Summon Persona] has gained a level!**

 **[Summon Persona] has gained a level!**

 **[Summon Persona] has gained a level!**

 **[Summon Persona] has gained a level!**

 **[Sword Mastery] has gained a level!**

 **[Sword Mastery] has gained a level!**

 **[Sword Mastery] has gained a level!**

 **[Sword Mastery] has gained a level!**

 **You have gained 2976 EXP, 55260 Yen, The Mask of the Magician, Skill Book: [Spirit Drain], 5 Lowest-Grade Recovery Potions, 14 Big Incisors, 12 Idea Paper, and 1 Smokey Quartz.**

Yu panted softly as he walked over to Dante. He tried to pull the white haired demon hunter up and helped him into the house. He slowly walked up the stairs and opened the door to his room. He closed the door and laid Dante down on the couch as he closed the window. Just in time too, as the dungeon faded away. "God… damn…"

Dante panted as well, looking at Yu. "'God damn' is right…! That looked amazing!" He held out his hand to shake Yu's.

Yu shook his head and gave Dante exactly half of the loot gained, which is 27630 Yen. "Here's your pay for the training. Get some rest, because I need you to train me much harder."

Dante shrugged and pocketed the money. "You sure about that? I mean, you can barely handle my training _now_! What makes you think that you can take more of it?"

"Because my body constantly adapts and I can focus perfectly on any task I set my mind to. How do you think that I was able to get a week's' worth of homework done in a few hours?" Yu started to type something up, which was the report that Yu had promised Mitsuru. He was finished with that in ten minutes, so he sent the entire ten page report, recalling every detail after she recruited him to now, save for the Gamer stuff. And a couple things that Dante had… attempted.

"Oh, that reminds me, get some porn on your laptop. It's weird to not have any."

Yu groaned as he sent the e-mail directly to Mitsuru.

* * *

Mitsuru waited for everyone to show up. Junpei was last, as he was in the middle of halftime when he got the call.

"Wassup you guys! It's been awhile since we just decided to hang out like this huh?" Junpei sat down next to a woman wearing a pink biker's outfit… well, sorta. It was really the costume for the Phoenix Ranger Featherman R Pink character

Pink stomped on Junpei's foot. "Quiet Stupei! Kirijo-san called us here for a reason! You better not mess anything up!" She took off her helmet to reveal a fair skinned woman with longer brown hair with brown eyes.

A boy with short brown hair with a dog in his lap cleared his throat. "While I like being together again like old times just as much as the next person, I have school tomorrow, so if we could get to the point…?"

"Ken's right." Akihiko was leaning forward, sitting on a couch.

Fuuka simply nodded at Mitsuru.

A Shiba-inu in Ken's lap barked.

Mitsuru nodded. "Very well. I assume you all know why you were all called back here?"

Junpei nodded. "Yeah, we aren't stupid."

The brown haired woman mutter under her breath. "I don't think you should include yourself Stupei."

"Shut it Yukari!"

Aigis stood up, walked over to the two, pushed both to other side of a second couch, and sat in between them.

"Thank you Aigis. Anyways, your suspicions are, however, only half true. While it is true that the Shadows have reemerged, it s also true that the Dark Hour hasn't returned. This is a different situation."

Ken patted the dog, signaling him to get off. Once the dog did, he praised him. "Good boy, Koromaru. So," He looked back at Mitsuru. "What's the situation?"

Mitsuru picked up a remote and pushed a button, revealing a copy of Yu's high school transcript, which included a picture. "This is Narukami Yu. Akihiko, Aigis, and Fuuka are already acquainted with him, but for the ones that aren't familiar with him, he is the newest member of our Black Ops division."

Yukari jumped up. "Are you kidding?! He's just a kid! N-No offence Ken."

"None taken, Senpai."

"Good… but he's not experienced like Ken! Why would you recruit him Mitsuru?!"

Mitsuru glanced at Yukari. "Sit down, Takeba."

Yukari flinched, then nodded as she sat down.

The redhead waited for a moment before continuing. "He has recently awakened his own Persona. And from the verbal and written reports that he has given me, he has not only assisted in the awakening of two more Persona users, but has the ability to utilize multiple Personae. The reason I recruited him Takeba, is because I could see potential in him, though, it was really Yamagishi who got him to sign up. In the written report, he said that he fell into another world and encountered Shadows in there."

Junpei scoffed. "You don't really believe him, do you? I mean another world with more Shadows in it, sounds a little farfetched, doesn't it?"

"So does the Dark Hour if you've never experienced it. How many of you have touched a TV screen in the past two years? Most likely none of you." Mitsuru walked over to a flat screen TV in the room and placed her hand on the screen. "This is how he got into that world. Through a television screen." She replaced the television screen with an open laptop. "We will have him demonstrate his ability right now." She pulled up a video calling app and called up Yu.

Yu picked up within the first ring or so. "Kirijo-san. I wasn't expecting you at all tonight. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Mitsuru smiled a bit. "Good evening Narukami-san. We would like you to demonstrate your power, if you don't mind."

Yu bowed slightly. "Of course." He rose back up and then smirked as blue flames erupted behind him and Izanagi formed from the cold fire. "Persona."

Koromaru barked, very impressed by this boy.

Ken stared at the screen. "He's… summoning without an Evoker… how is that possible? Does he do it the same way Strega did it?"

Fuuka shook her head. "No. As far as I can tell, he is a natural Persona user. He is just more in tune with his power then us."

Mitsuru smiled smugly, feeling the reactions of Yukari and Junpei. "While that is still impressive, that isn't the power I was talking about. You said that you can open gateways into another world using TV screens?"

Yu nodded and adjusted his laptop a bit so that they could see it clearly. He pressed his hand against the screen and it slowly began to sink in, the screen rippling white. "Is this the one?"

Mitsuru nodded. "Yes, that would be the one. Now, explain to the rest of the group what happened in there."

Yu nodded as he sat down in front of the laptop once more. "Yes Kirijo-san. I assume that you all have a job to do, so I will make this brief. I believe that if a normal person is thrown into the TV with no way out, then their Shadow comes out of them and kills them."

Akihiko raised his head towards the screen. "What the hell are you implying? That Shadows come from people?!"

Yu nodded as he pulled his hand out of the TV. "Yes. I am. And I'm saying this because I've seen it happen twice." Yu seemed to check the time. "Unfortunately, I am pressed for time right now, as there is currently a third person whose Shadow has been unleashed. Again, don't send backup until you believe that I absolutely need it, Kirijo-san. Thank you for calling me." He bowed to the camera and then hung up.

Junpei stared at the screen as he slowly leaned back on the couch. "…Well… shit…"

* * *

 **I'll keep this end one brief so you all can get back to your day, so… yeah. Usual stuff, leave a comment if you have anything to say, follow if you like this, and even favorite this if you like it enough! I'll talk to you all next time! But right now, I have to go make sure a devil stays out of my pizza…..**


	9. Tor-Training

**Hello everyone! First, let me get something out of the way, I created a account for this for reasons that are on my page. I'll just put it on my profile regardless of the hate I get...Which...ALSO refuses to work... It's on Patr-eon..** **. Anyways! Now that that's done, let's get to the more pleasant things! Polls and my stupid reaction to them!**

 **Rise: 19 votes**

 **Marie: 16 votes**

 **Labrys/Lolikano: 14 votes**

 **Dante/Naoto: 13 votes**

 **Sho: 12 votes**

 **Mitsuru/Margaret: 11 votes**

 **Chie/Yukiko: 8 votes**

 **Yukari/Elizabeth: 3 votes**

 **Yosuke/Akihiko: 2 votes**

 **Kanji/Fuuka/OC: 1 vote**

 **Well, Lolikano fans, you might get your wish and have her in the harem although, after this chapter, the entire poll might explode due to the fact that we're about to hit the final word count milestone on this site! And we haven't even gotten to Shadow Yukiko yet which… kinda upsets me. ANYWAYS! Responses to Reviews!**

 **Exiled Soul Nomad: Yeah, he really should, but he can still hope that he won't run into his boss on the street again.**

 **reydrago: I have never played an RPG where the grinding has been anything more then tedious. Even in the newest games. Yu doesn't necessarily gain new skills from new Personae. Only the ones that must have a skill like Ukobach. And it's a practical skill as well. I don't plan on giving Yu the ability to fly for getting Angel. And he already has Garu. I'm not sure if you mean that the failure for that quest is terrifying, or if the quest itself is. And the Shadow Dungeon bosses will only show up on a full moon, just like in Persona 3. I had a bit of trouble with this one though, as I couldn't research its skill set. The only one to be killed in a cutscene…**

 **Blarg7865: I just got the Take Your Heart Edition today! Well, when I'm writing this. My sister decided to get it for me as an early birthday gift, and no, I haven't played it yet. But I am really excited about it! Yes, I realize that Q is set during Persona 4, but I plan to have it happen to them in Yu's third year, instead of second because there's enough crap going on right now. Dante is having a very difficult time right now and he is pissed off about it, and yes, he plans on paying someone to open up a pizza shop that also happens to sell strawberry milkshakes. Once he's out of debt. Which will be a while. At least he has a job. I'm planning on having Yu join the soccer team in his second year and the basketball team in his third. I know that it doesn't make sense to do both of them, but both of their stories are really sad, and I feel like I owe it to the characters to do both of them. Same with Drama and Music. I just don't know which one to do first… Well, I have a little bit of time on that one.**

 **Akuma-Heika: Her parents are dead. It just sounds better then saying that 'You owe me money, so… that's how it works for them.**

 **xYuukito: I personally plan to add in a few more characters, like Shin Sun-Il and Hwan Sung-Gon. I'm also going to bring in the P5 storyline later on. It'll be REALLY fun to write that stuff…~ I can just imagine Yu cutting loose in the dungeons of that game, taking out various 'Shadows', though for all of those who don't want spoilers to Persona 5, don't worry, I'll put a warning on each of the chapters that have something to do with that Persona, alright?**

 **Anyways, onto the chapter!**

* * *

"Speech"/ "Different Language"

' _Thought'_

" _Telepathy"_

" _**Shadows"/ "Demons" / "Gods"**_

 **Windows/Skills**

* * *

Akihiko looked at his fists questioningly. "So… all this time we've been hunting people…?"

Mitsuru shook her head. "I highly doubt that it's that simple Akihiko. If that were the case, then our actions in Tartarus would have created more cases of Apathy Syndrome instead of slowing it down. I already have a hypothesis about what they really are."

Ken stood up and leaned against the wall for some reason. "If it's what I think that you're thinking Mitsuru-senpai, then are you thinking that Shadows originally come from people, but once we enter whatever nest they're living in right now, they become sentient and detach from the host?"

"You're exactly right Amada-san. Now then, how do I address this… There was something else that Narukami-san's said that startled me. I didn't have him explain it because… well, I suppose that you could call it a family matter."

Junpei looked back over at Mitsuru. "Something that _you're_ calling a family matter? This had better be good Senpai."

"Iori, we are not in school anymore, so you will not refer to me like that. And yes, it's _good_ as Iori has put it." Mitsuru took a deep breath and then sighed. "I have near tangible proof that Minato Arisato can be recovered and brought back to life."

The room fell completely silent, before Junpei facepalmed and shook his head. "Mitsuru, as much as I like the guy, he's dead, or, being used as that barrier thing or...something. But we can't get him back. What makes you think that?"

"The fact that Narukami-san was able to call forth the Persona 'Orpheus' at a time where he was desperate to save someone. You know that saying that someone sees Jesus right before they die?"

Yukari and Junpei nodded. As celebrities, they had to know these things. Though Junpei was VERY reluctant to learn it.

"I believe that this was very much like that, though different, as us Persona users can actually harness the power of our spirit and psyche. I hypothesize that Narukami was able to reach out to Minato and call for help, in which he received the power of Orpheus. Though… we know that he had a much more powerful Persona in the form of 'Messiah', so the fact that it was not his strongest Persona worries me that he is dying."

Aigis hid her face from everyone in the room to hide her tears. There might be a way to bring Minato back. She couldn't believe it! But if Orpheus was summoned, then it had to be true. "D-Do you think that there's any way to get to him and free him?"

Mitsuru shook her head. "No, not at this moment. Though from the circumstances that we encountered to reach him the first time, I can say definitively that it will not be easy to reach him again. I just thought that I should share this information with all of you. And there is one last issue that we need to address before I can allow you to leave."

Yukari nodded. "Who are we going to send Narukami to assist them as backup."

Aigis looked over at Ken. "Naturally, I believe Amada-san would be the natural choice as back up for Narukami-san. He is still in school after all."

Ken looked over at Aigis. "W-What?!"

Akihiko nodded silently.

Fuuka smiled at Ken. "Well, you ARE the only one that still needs to finish school, though he is in middle school… so I don't believe that we could sell him as a first year high schooler."

Ken sighed in relief. "Thank you Fuuka-san… Besides, I… n-nevermind, I'll say it later."

Mitsuru nodded in thought. "Then the only other person who could pull off the high schooler act would be Aigis, however, I doubt that I could make up an excuse in time."

Junpei scoffed. "It's easy. If you're sending her then just say that she's going on a long term mission which can't be discussed."

Yukari looked over at Junpei. "Huh. You're still stupid, but you still have your moments."

"Do I have enough of them for you to let me cop a feel?"

Yukari glared at the baseball player. "Don't push it Stupei."

"It's decided then." Mitsuru just sent a text to the Black Ops secretary. "Aigis will be leaving on a mission to assist Narukami-san in the eradication of the shadow nest plaguing Inaba. She will leave at an undisclosed time and an undisclosed location."

Junpei groaned. "Translation. She'll leave as soon as we can get all of her supplies ready without the lab noticing, and wherever we can ship her out without any suspicion. We know that you have to seem like you're in control of everything, but really? Here?"

Aigis stood up to salute Mitsuru. "I will not fail Kirijo-san!"

"Shut up Stupei!" Yukari stomped on Junpei's foot again.

* * *

 **!QUEST COMPLETE!**

 **The Dark Hour (1/?): Shadow Hunt**

 **Main Objective 1: Kill 10 Shadows within an hour**

 **Main Objective 2: Speak to Mitsuru about Minato Arisato**

 **Side Objective 1: Kill 20 Shadows within an hour**

 **Side Objective 2: Kill 50 Shadows within an hour**

 **Side Objective 3: Slay The Magician**

 **Rewards: Quest line continued, 1000 EXP, 5000 Yen, Increased closeness to the Kirijo Black Ops members, increased closeness to Minato Arisato, Increased closeness to ?, 3 [Sword Mastery] levels, 90 Random skill cards, 1500 EXP**

 **!QUEST ALERT!**

 **The Dark Hour (2/?): Apathy**

 **Main Objective 1: Kill 50 Maya's before the next full moon**

 **Main Objective 2: Investigate Yasogami High School in the Shadow Dungeon**

 **Main Objective 3: Enter the dungeon with an experienced Shadow Hunter, then get out before the dungeon closes.**

 **Side Objective 1: Find and enter the Sub dungeon in the Shadow Barrier**

 **Side Objective 2: Defeat the sub boss on floor 15**

 **Main Rewards: Quest line continued, 1500 EXP, 7000 Yen, Increased closeness to Kirijo Black Ops members, Increased closeness to Minato Arisato, Increased closeness to ?, Increased closeness to whomever you enter the dungeon with.**

 **Side Rewards: 500 Yen for each objective completed, 1 skill level in your most proficient weapon per objective completed, 3 [Detect Bloodlust] levels gained for each objective completed.**

 **Failure: End of quest line, some Social links locked out, Inability to call power from the Universe Arcana, Death of Minato Arisato.**

 **Quest Auto-Accepted**

 **You have gained 90 Random skill cards!**

Yu stared at the deck of cards and flipped one of the cards over. There was a question mark on it. "Huh. I thought that 'Random Skill Cards' meant something different." He shrugged and placed the cards into his **Inventory** and then sighed. "So, you ready for training yet?"

Dante flipped Yu off. "Still tired from what we did half an hour ago. Not in the mood."

"With the way you said that, if anyone's listening, they might get the wrong idea. Like that person floating behind the window."

Dante shot up and stared out the window to see no one.

"You awake now?"

Dante sighed. "Yeah. I am. Little slave driver." He stretched as he opened a barrier. It was entirely empty. "Just get in the dome thing and we'll start training."

Yu smirked as he walked into the barrier, but still kept up the act of being oblivious to Dante's training. His regular training wes hell, so training now would probably be torture. ' _But I need this. I have to save Yukuko no matter what. And not just because of the quest. I won't let anyone else die to this killer!'_

 **Perk [Indomitable Will] has become active.**

' _Good. Now my body won't give out on me. I will save you Yukiko.'_

" _Souji? I think that I can do support now, so if you can get your hands on a healing spell, I could heal you while you're fighting."_

' _Thanks Pixie. Now let's get to training.'_

* * *

"DAMMIT!" Yu yelled for the fifth time as he was thrown through another building. He panted heavily as he slowly rose from the rubble. His HP has been at one a lot in the past three hours of combat training. Though **[Life Drain]** was making progress. It had gained three levels, but nothing extreme had happened. Though he did gain 4 DEX points from dodging Dante's attacks in the first hour. Then he kept getting hit, leveling **[Physical Endurance]** up quite a bit, giving him seven more levels. That also gave Yu a measuring stick on how much Dante was holding back when they fought before. And with each level in that skill he got, Dante hit that much harder. His only saving grace was that Dante also knew when Yu needed to regen, so he didn't die.

 **For denying your body rest and shattering your limits, you have gained + 3 VIT!**

' _There's the VIT stat gain that I expected… fuck…this hurts like hell, but I need to keep going.'_ Yu stared at Dante and then sidestepped an attack of his, which was just a feint as Yu was then hit in the gut with the pommel of Rebellion. He was sent through another wall and grabbed onto a light pole to end his flight. He swung around it and then rolled onto the ground so that he could dash towards Dante, who tripped Yu with his blade one he was close enough, then stomped on his head, breaking the sidewalk.

"Give up kid. You can't beat me as you are. I mean, I know that this is training, but you're treating it as real combat. There's no reason t-… Did you just stab me in the lungs?" Dante looked down to see Yu's katana stabbed into him. "…Well, at least you got spirit kid, but this is the real world, which crushes spirit. You need to give up."

Yu groaned as he slowly took his blade out of Dante. ' _Come Izanagi!'_

Izanagi immediately formed behind Dante and swatted him away, sending him into a wall.

Dante waited for a second, before smirking. "That's more like it."

Yu slowly dragged himself out of the hole he was in. He glared at Dante and readied his blade.

Dante shot out of the wall and struck at Yu, which was at a snail's pace for him, but was nearly blinding for Yu.

Yu deflected Rebellion as he sidestepped the strike, then grabbed the pommel of the demonic bastard sword. "The same trick won't work again Dante. I'm not those cannon fodder demons that you're so used to fighting." He felt a stabbing pain in his hand as Izanagi was stabbed in his hand. Since Dante was distracted, Yu grabbed Rebellion and stored it into his **Inventory**.

Dante blinked and then groaned. "You little shit."

Yu smirked then braced himself as Izanagi hit him to send him flying into the air. He resummoned Izanagi and had the Persona launch him farther up. He did this multiple times until he was sure that Dante couldn't see him anymore.

Dante gazed up at where Yu disappeared. "What is he up to…?"

Yu grinned as his idea became action. He summoned Izanagi one last time and had him throw him down at Dante as hard as he could, then amplified Izanagi's throw by casting **[Garu]** at the exact same time as the throw. The result was, well, he wasn't going as fast as he wanted to, so he closed his eyes and thought of making the wind enhancement around him sharper to cut through the air instead of being pushed back by it. This was why he needed to be so high up. So he could find a way to go faster. It took a bit, but the wind around him was suddenly sharp enough to cut through any air resistance. Yu used another **[Garu]** to increase his speed, then decided to keep using it until he heard a boom behind him. It took about 15 spells to reach that speed, and he actually gained a level from it.

Dante saw the sonic boom and then groaned. "Is he going to try and stab me with his sword? It'll break at that speed."

Yu kept staring at where Dante would be, his elemental shield barely keeping his eyes from bleeding. Once he was sure that he was close enough, he took Rebellion from his **Inventory** and swung it as hard as he could, attempting to hit Dante while wielding his own weapon.

Dante blinked at Yu's form, then suddenly paled. "Shit!" He activated Quicksilver and ran far away.

The world flashed silver as Yu swung the bastard sword into the ground hard, shattering whatever stone like stuff in a thirty foot radius. Rebellion is a really heavy sword. Yu released Rebellion as he felt every bone in his arms and attached to his arms shatter from the impact. He panted heavily and he saw Dante running over to him. "So… is training over now…?"

Dante looked at Yu's arms, which dangled from his body, completely useless. "Your arms are dead. I think that this is a good time to stop."

Yu nodded and looked at the notifications that popped up.

 **[Physical Endurance] has gained a level!**

 **[Physical Endurance] has gained a level!**

 **[Physical Endurance] has gained a level!**

 **[Sword Mastery] has gained a level!**

 **[Sword Mastery] has reached level 15! [Dagger Mastery] has been learned!**

 **Dagger Mastery** **: LV: 1: EXP: 0.00%: Most do not possess the natural Dexterity or grace to master the art of daggers. Most.**

 **\+ 10% damage when Daggers are equipped**

 **\+ 5% Crit Chance when Daggers are equipped**

 **\- 10% durability loss to all Daggers**

 **[Elemental Enhancement] has gained a level!**

 **[Elemental Enhancement] has gained a level!**

 **[Elemental Enhancement] has gained a level!**

 **[Elemental Enhancement] has gained a level!**

 **[Sense Danger] has gained a level!**

 **[Sense Danger] has gained a level!**

 **[Sense Danger] has gained a level!**

 **[Sense Danger] has gained a level!**

 **[Sense Danger] has gained a level!**

 **[Summon Persona] has gained a level!**

Yu sighed and then dismissed all of the windows. "We may have to add training involving daggers to the list. Just got a new skill."

Dante groaned loudly in annoyance. "Seriously?! You didn't even USE daggers AT ALL!"

"Says here that I got it for getting my **[Sword Mastery]** skill up to level fifteen. I don't know why I got a level though. All I did was deflect your strikes, get hit from your counters, and then slam Rebellion into the ground. Maybe I was close to leveling. Anyways…" Yu slowly moved his arms and switched his skill tracker to track the progress of **[Summon Persona]** again. "My arms are healing up. Wanna go get some food?"

Dante stared at Yu and then sighed. "Fine. At least it's just food."

* * *

Yu stared at Dante as he shoveled down his third bowl of ramen. "Dante. Slow down man. Your food isn't going anywhere."

Dante shook his head and kept nomming on the food. Once he finished with that bowl, he sighed. "So, why'd you ask me here? That other place was a good place to ask me stuff. Why here?"

Yu shrugged. "I wanted to try this place out, and it seemed like you needed something to eat. Something wrong with that?"

Dante shook his head. "As long as you're paying." He ordered a fourth bowl and chuckled. "Seriously, what is it? It's clearly something that you couldn't ask back there."

Yu nodded a bit. "Well, I just want to know why you were so pissed off during training today."

Dante groaned and shook his head. "Short version, or the long version?"

"I feel like I'll miss out on some things, so the long version."

He chuckled as he got his fourth bowl of ramen. "Fine. I'l- thank you. I'll tell ya, but after that I'll probably have to tell you my life's story so that you'll get all of it."

Yu shrugged. "We have time. It may be early in the morning, but I really do think that we have time."

Dante started eating his ramen with a nod. Once he finished, he sighed. "Well, first thing's first, while you were off slaying monsters and being a badass to your friends, I had nothing to do so I was standing on top of your house when my coworker Trish, you'll learn about her later if you keep listening, hops up next to me. She accuses me of not working, I show her some of the money that I got while working with you, and then she goes and tells me that I can't buy any more of my heavenly foods because we're in WAY too much debt."

Yu slowly took a drink of the water he had ordered. "How much debt are you talking about."

"About $50,000, and that's from years of doing jobs to keep things from getting worse. It's not like I knew that a bachelor party would cost that much!" Dante looked up at the chef. "I'll take some of your strongest booze."

Yu stared at Dante. "$50,000?! What the hell man?! You spent that much money on a bachelor party?!"

Dante nodded with a smirk. "Yep. And it was amazing. Nero wasn't all that happy about it though. Honestly, there's no pleasing that kid. It's like someone shoved Yamato up his ass and left it there." He sighed and drank his drink that was just set down. "Oh well. I suppose that since he's tied down by that girl of his, he can't really do anything fun."

Yu shook his head at Dante's carefree demeanor. He really didn't seem like he cared about much at all. It was actually kinda scary, that someone as powerful as he is could care as much as he did. Yu heard a cracking sound and the chained Chariot card floated down in front of him. One of the chains glowed brightly and then shattered.

 **You have unlocked the potential Persona:**

 **Nata Taishi**

 **Your S.L. rank with Dante has reached LV 2!**

 **Dante will now occasionally attempt to teach you his own personal techniques. This is based upon LUK.**

Yu held his head and grimaced in pain.

 _Souji panted softly as he rose to his feet. He looked in front of him to see the charred bodies of the bullies. The scent of cooked meat and burned hair permeated the area. He heaved and then covered his mouth to keep himself from losing what little lunch he had. It took Souji a moment, but he was finally able to get his lunch back down. "T-They're right… I AM just a monster…"_

"Do not call yourself that again!"

" _W-What…?"_ _Souji turned around to see a figure in black holding a spear floating above the ground. Ethereal chains were attached to him, dragging him back into the ground._

"It may be a long time before you will be able to hear me again child, but listen to what I have to say!" _The figure struggled against the chains._ "You are not a monster! You are simply a victim of monsters who wish to shift their vileness onto you! Strike them away with lightning! Break free of your strings! And if they try to keep you from freedom, show them what it is like to tempt the sky! Until you are ready, your name shall not be Seta Souji! They have tarnished your name and your mind! Until you are ready, you will be known as Narukami Yu!" _The figure was yanked down into the blue light. He seened like he was in horrible pain as he struggled to stay in the material world._ "Remember these words! **I am thou! Thou art I! Thou who seeketh freedom from thine own prison, come forth and awaken the power within!** Promise me that you'll remember!"

 _Souji nodded and ran over to the figure to try and pull him up._

"The chains that are binding you are too strong right now for me to come back. Let me go. Once you break free of your prison, then I will be able to come forth once more. You're a kind hearted soul." _The yellow eyes of the figure became blue as something seemed to force it to relax._ "Above all else, do not let them take that from you." _The figure was then forcibly pulled into the blue circle, disappearing from Yu's sight._

' _That's right…'_ Yu shook his head softly to make the pain fade. ' _I completely forgot about what happened that day… Izanagi saved me from those bullies. That's why I've always hated them. And...that's when I became me.'_

 **Mental trauma status has lessened from [Very High-High] to [High]**

Dante looked over at Yu. He waved a hand in front of his face. "Hey. Heeey. You alright kid? You look a little spaced out. You allergic to something in your Beef Bowl?"

Yu blinked and then chuckled. "I'm fine. I was just thinking." He looked up at the chef. "Excuse me, may we have the check now?" He glanced at Dante. "I'll pay so your coworkers don't get all pissy about you spending money." He waited for the bill to show up, and then walked out of the restaurant with Dante, idly chatting about random things that neither of them really remembered five minutes after they said it. He opened a barrier so that people wouldn't overhear them just in case someone said something important.

Lolikano sighed when she saw her cute target and _Dante_ enter a barrier together. "Guess he really IS training him. Oh well. Guess my worries were for nothing." She yawned and stretched in a manner that even the densest idiot would find cute. "Guess I should get some sleep…maybe I should use a time altering barrier to get my full amount of sleep… meh. First day at school, what's the worst that could happen?" Lolikano smiled to herself, before becoming frightened. "God… dammit… did it again."

* * *

Yu groaned as he sat down in his seat. He asked for his training to be taken up a notch, and Dante took it up five. It was even more hellish then the other training, but it got much better results. Just this morning he got four points in STR, two points in VIT, and five in DEX! It was amazing, or at least the results were. They hadn't practiced any skills that morning, with Dante wanting to focus on statistics, but his Passive skills gained EXP as well, but with no levels. ' _Oh well. Training is training. Can't complain about results.'_ To make things worse though, Dante acknowledged the use of the mental statuses, but neglected to let Yu train those, saying that he would get that done in school. "Bastard doesn't know how hard it is to train INT when the school… has a library…" Yu then grinned evilly at the exploit of the training. And if he did it in the Library, then he would probably get a buff to training his INT because of the atmosphere there!"

 **For quickly deducing a method of training your neglected stat, you have gained +1 WIS!**

Yu began to chuckled evilly as a dark aura formed around him.

Yosuke blinked and then snapped to get his attention. "Yo! Dude! Are you alright? You're acting weird."

Yu was forced out of his 'evil' moment and then turned to Yosuke. "What is it Yosuke?"

Yosuke sighed in relief. "Thank god… I thought that I lost you for a minute there partner. I was just talking about how I'm worried about Chie."

Yu nodded softly. "She did seem really out of it when we left Junes yesterday…"

"I just hope that she's back to her normal self." Yosuke scratched the back of his head. "A lot happened yesterday… I'd be surprised if she made it into school at al-"

The door to the classroom slid open to reveal a nervous looking Chie. Though she was quickly able to hide it and walk over to the two of them casually. "Mornin'." She looked into Yosuke's eyes. "You're here early Yosuke. What gives?"

Yosuke stammered as he struggled to come up with a response to that.

Yu shook his head with a soft smile. "Did you sleep well?"

Chie looked back at Yu with a genuine smile on her face and nodded. "Yep. I was out cold until this morning. Best sleep I've gotten in a long time, actually." She tried to stay casual, but that front quickly degenerated and she let out a nervous noise and rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. For some reason, that was a thing here. "U-Ummm… T-Thanks for everything yesterday."

Both Yu and Yosuke looked at Chie questioningly.

Chie sighed when she realized that she'd have to explain. "W-Well, it's… kinda embarrassing… y'know? I mean, you two were there to see my hidden feelings and all…"

Yosuke shrugged a bit. "Don't sweat it."

Chie nodded a bit. "Huh… the same thing happened to Yosuke… right?"

Yu nodded, a devious smirk creeping up onto his face.

Chie smirked as well. "So… what was it like?"

Yosuke flinched back heavily. "W-What?! Dude, she doesn't need to know about that!"

Yu shook his head. "Be honest Yosuke. It's only fair that you tell her what yours was like, considering that you saw hers."

Yosuke groaned as he looked up and closed his eyes. "F-Fine…but not here! Somewhere private. Other people don't need to hear us… Oh!" He turned and looked at Yu. "I nearly forgot. None of that happened when your's awakened huh? When was it? It was when those ball things attacked us before my Shadow?"

Yu shook his head. "No. It was when we first entered that place. And nothing really happened. I just signed a contract and I have this new power of mine."

"You had to sign a contract? What was it about?" Yosuke was now genuinely curious instead of trying to keep Chie from prying any further.

Yu sighed. "Nothing special. It was just a contract that said that I'll take responsibility for all of my actions." ' _Though I'm sure that my Shadow will show itself sooner or later…Maybe…I don't know. I'm fairly sure that I have one.'_ "So yeah, no Shadow stuff as far as I know."

Yosuke hummed a bit. "Could that be because you got nothing to hide?"

Yu was about to say otherwise, but Chie kept him from talking. "Oh… so nothing happened for you…? Well, I got to agree that you seem like a pretty open guy. There's this funny air around you…" She shrugged. "I dunno. I guess that's what draws people to you. Or something like that."

' _Not open at all, but thanks.'_ Yu smiled and looked up at Chie. "Was that a compliment?"

Chie chuckled a bit. "Yep. It's a compliment."

Yosuke smirked. "Surprising to hear one coming from you Chie."

Chie turned to glare at Yosuke. "S-Shut up!" She sighed and looked back at Yu. "A-Anyways, what's important right now is that we rescue Yukiko. I'm dead set on coming! Remember, you promised me."

Yu nodded. "We wouldn't think about going without you unless you actually weren't physically able to." He was about to say more, but then the bell rang.

Yosuke looked up at the clock. "Oh crap! I haven't gone to the bathroom yet!" He ran off in a hurry and out of the room towards whatever bathrooms were on the second floor.

"Hey…umm…"

Yu looked over at Chie who seemed to be struggling to say something. "What is it Chie?"

"W-Well… thanks for saving me." She sighed a bit, now having that off of her chest. "Yosuke's kinda cool and all, but there really is something different about you. I feel like you won't let me down."

' _She's practically radiating gratitude. I… I don't know what to do here. No one's ever been grateful to me before…'_ A cracking sound was heard by Yu as another card floated down in front of his eyes. It was the Chariot card again.

" _I am thou. Thou art I. Thou hast forged a new bond. These bonds shall be your guide to your soul to shatter the chains of thine heart. Thou shalt receive new power upon calling forth the power of the Chariot Arcana!"_

' _That voice wasn't Izanagi… who was it? And more importantly right now, I should've realized that the Social Links would overlap. The game even said that they would.'_

 **You have gained the Social Link: Chie Satonaka!**

' _Huh. That reminds me.'_ "Chie, I was wondering if I could have your number."

Chie flinched a bit and stared at Yu with a large blush on her face. "W-What?" It took a second, but she was able to calm down to understand what he meant. "O-Oh… right. F-For the investigation." She chuckled, clearly embarrassed. She pulled out her phone and they exchanged numbers quickly. The bell rang again just as Yosuke stumbled back into the classroom. "W-Well, I'll just sit down now. We can't have anyone suspecting us." She quickly walked around the back of the classroom to get to her seat, completely ignoring Yosuke.

Yosuke sat down at his desk and then tapped Yu on the shoulder. "Dude, Chie looks really… flustered. Did you do anything?"

"Just asked her for her number." Yu looked back at Yosuke before King Moron could come in.

"Yeah, and he just asked me straight out too. I didn't know if he was asking for our thing or not!"

Yosuke had to cover his mouth to keep himself from laughing.

"A'wight! Sit down and shut the hell up! Class is now in session!"

Yu looked back towards Morooka and groaned internally. ' _It's for the INT stat points…'_

Chie whispered to Yu while King Moron was doing his morning rant. "We have to be careful of the fog that happens after the rain right?"

Yu responded with a discreet nod.

Chie had a determined look on her face. "Then let's save her before that happens!"

Yu simply nodded again, trying not to get into any trouble.

* * *

Speaking of trouble…

Lolikano walked into the classroom after lunch had ended with a smile on her face, even though she was in her 'Adult' form. She didn't really like this form, but if she's going to keep an eye on Yu, then she would have to keep a low profile while in public. "Hello class! My name is Kana Mistream, and I'll be your European History teacher for the rest of the year! I hope that we can get along!" She closed her eyes and tilted her head in a way that was still cute even though she looked like a fully grown woman.

Yu blinked for a minute, then shook his head with a groan once he saw all of the reactions that the guys, including Yosuke, had. Some of the most perverted ones had nosebleeds, while the rest of them just stared at her with their eyes as hearts. He didn't know how that was physically possible, but it happened. So, to get his attention, he kicked Yosuke in the shins.

"Ow! Dude!" Yosuke rubbed his shins where Yu kicked them.

"You know that feeling that Sparda-sensei gives you? The one where you have that creeping feeling like you're going to die if you mess anything up?"

"Of course I do man!" Yosuke leaned in closer to Yu. "Took all i had to keep myself from pissing my pants. Probably would've if I hadn't gone to the bathroom earlier. Why?"

Yu went back to staring at Lolikano. "I'm getting the same feeling from her. Watch your back around the new teachers. Whatever they are, they're strong." He still listened to her lecture which was mostly just an introduction to her class and what it would be. She also expressly said that she wouldn't sleep with any students to let them improve their grades, which immediately shut most of the guys up. He had actually gained a point of INT from the little about the Greeks that she taught. It was pretty much review.

"Okay, that's all for today, so I suppose that you can study for your other classes until class ends." She turned towards the door and began to walk out of the classroom before she looked right at Yu. "Narukami-san, I'd like to see you outside for a moment." She then exited the class, smirking at the jealous glares from a few of the girls.

Yu sighed and then stood up. "I'm just a magnet for trouble, aren't I…?" He quickly exited the class and saw Lolikano smirking. "What do you want Witch?"

Lolikano chuckled. "Nothing much Seta. Just want to know how you got your affinity for fire."

Yu flinched at the usage of his old name, then leaned against the wall. "Trade secret. I assume that Kirijo-san has briefed you on me?"

Lolikano nodded. "Of course, but she still doesn't have the info that I do, like the fact that you killed at the age of ten."

Yu gritted his teeth before being forced to calm down. "Yeah, and imagine what would happen if I learned how to dispel magic to take out that transformation of yours?"

Lolikano giggled a bit. "You're quite the challenge! Maybe I could take you back to the hotel an-"

Yu held up a hand. "Pass. But I assume that you already know about my other power if you know my real name."

The Witch of Slaughter nodded. "Impressive ability, The Gamer. Would never had learned it if I didn't use a scrying spell on Dante's jacket. Who knows? If you prove yourself, I might even give you a few pointers on how to use that Mana of yours correctly~"

"And what's in it for you…?" Yu turned his head towards Lolikano, already seeing past her little charade.

"Nothing much~ Just a chance to see these 'Shadows' that you and Dante have fought." Lolikano turned Yu towards her and trailed a finger down his chest. "Along with the training, I can also offer so much more…~"

Yu slapped Mistream's hand away from him. "I'll think about it. Now then, I have to get back to class. So if you'll excuse me." He went to walk into the classroom before he glared at her threateningly. "And don't even think about putting some weird spyware spell on me, got it…?"

Lolikano smirked as she stared at Yu lecherously, yet mischievously. "I would _never_ think about placing one of those spells on you!~ It's much more fun stalking you like Kirijo asked!"

Yu groaned as he walked into the classroom, leaving her alone in the hallway. Though he felt like he understood more about her seductive streak. She was trying to either get on his good side, or that's the only way she really knows how to talk to people that she sees as acquaintances. Maybe that's how she used to keep people around. Or maybe it was something much darker. He heard a cracking noise as he saw the card to the Devil Arcana float down in front of him, one of the chains glowing before it shattered.

 **You have unlocked the potential Persona:**

 **Lilim**

 **Your S.L. rank with Lolikano has reached LV 2!**

Yu shook his head with a groan and walked back to his seat so that he could at least try to train his INT stat.

 **You sense a dangerous presence!**

Yu glanced at the window and then saw a pissed off Dante walk into the classroom.

"Alright kids, open your textbooks to page thirty three. Narukami, since you've already read the entire book, why don't you go ahead and read what's on there."

Yu rolled his eyes. ' _Mistream must've pissed him off just by being here.'_ "Of course, Sparda-sensei."

"And I want to see you after class."

Yu groaned softly and muttered under his breath just loud enough for Chie and Yosuke to hear. "What is it with you new teachers and picking on the new kid…?" He shook his head and nodded. "Yes, Sparda-sensei."

* * *

"What the hell do you want Dante?" Yu sat on the roof and leaned against the fence with his arms crossed.

Dante groaned as he sat down on one of the vents. "I need you to make a barrier. That witch just gets on my nerves so fucking much. I just need to-"

"Need to do what Dante? You best be careful with all of the cameras around here. Someone might hear you~!" Lolikano walked onto the roof and locked the door behind her.

Dante glared at Lolikano. "What do you want bitch?"

"It's WITCH!" Lolikano fast walked over to Dante. "Might I remind you what happened the _last_ time we did this…?!"

Dante unclasped his guitar case. "You want to go for Round 2…? I'll be happy to grant your death wish…!"

"Hey!" Yu dragged all three of them into a barrier then slashed his Katana in between them. "Not the time or place! You want to bicker like this, then do it on your own time. Not on mine."

Lolikano released her transformation magic and then pouted softly as she jumped back. "You're no fun…"

Yu sheathed his katana quickly and then stored it into his **Inventory**. "Honestly… You two are extremely immature. And I'm paying one of you, and my boss is paying the other, so get along."

Dante scoffed and looked away from Lolikano. "No way am I going to work with this witchy woman. I've already worked with enough witches to last a lifetime."

Yu groaned and shook his head. "I never said that you two have to work together. Just try to be civil. You two share the same client, and the same official workplace, so you're going to have to act like you two can get along."

Lolikano sighed and then walked over to Yu. "Fine…~ I'll get along with the devil… for a price~"

Yu sat down again and sighed. "What is it now…?"

Lolikano kissed Yu on the lips for a quick second, then giggled at his very flustered reaction. "Your face when I steal your first kiss!"

Yu quickly developed a blush as his eye twitched. "I swear to whatever god you believe in…"

"All of them."

"I swear to the gods… you do that again… Yeah I got nothing." Yu hid his face in his hands to cover up his quickly fading embarrassment.

Dante chuckled at Yu's embarrassment. "You're always so composed. It's really funny to see you like this kid."

"Shut the hell up Dante." Yu looked up at the half Devil and then glanced over at Lolikano. He dissolved whatever party he had with Dante and then created a new one titled 'Abyssal Hunters' because he remembered the Witch mentioning something about the 'Abyss' and he then invited both Dante and Lolikano to the party.

Dante accepted without protest.

Lolikano stared at the window that popped up in front of her face and then shrugged as she tapped the **[Yes]** button. She looked at Dante and covered her mouth.

Dante groaned and then punched a hole through whatever was closest. "Are you kidding me?! I was beat by someone nearly half my level?!"

Yu uncovered his face and nodded with a smirk. "Care to explain that?"

"Nope."

Lolikano grinned. "I do! Basically, I baited him into fighting me by feeding him a bunch of half truths that pissed him off! I was also fully prepared to fight him as I know all of his techniques! I nearly beat him to a bloody pulp! I would've to if he didn't heal so damn fast!"

Dante flipped Lolikano off. "Don't knock demonic regeneration until you try it Witch."

Yu shook his head and then walked over to the fence and climbed it. "Now then, if you two have nothing important to tell me, I have to go. I can't fail Yukiko… I will save her." He jumped off of the building and figured that he would try to charge up a **[Garu]** , and failed, though he was still able to use that skill to slow himself enough to land safely onto the ground. He then took off running towards Junes. He knew the layout of the town well enough by now to at least navigate his way to his house, the school, and Junes.

Dante glared at Lolikano. "So… we may have to partner up at times for 'training' the kid."

Lolikano grinned evilly. "What kind of training are you talking…~?"

Dante smirked at the Witch's expression. "The kind where nearly everyone would consider torture."

"Ooo! Sounds fun! I want in on that!"

Yu felt a shiver go down his spine.

* * *

Yu panted as he arrived at Junes. He felt like being stupid and pushing himself, so he decided to climb up the side of of the building to get into the food court. He panted heavily as he dragged himself over the railing and then groaned as he fell onto his back. "Ow… Maybe not the best idea I've ever had…" He stood up and walked into the bathroom to exit his barrier. The air shattered around him, but the sunlight stayed the same. "What…?"

 **You have forcibly entered an Illusion Barrier.**

He heard a multitude of gunshots in the distance as he walked out of the bathroom. He dodged out of the way of a corpse of some white and gold creature slamming into the ground where he was standing. Yu looked up and saw woman with long hair wearing a black catsuit fighting those creatures in the air. He squinted his eyes to get a look at her status.

 **The Left Eye of Jubileus**

 **Bayonetta / ?**

 **LV: ?**

"Oh god dammit! Not another one!" Yu glared at Bayonetta as he dodged the falling corpses of whatever the hell she was fighting. He saw one look down at him and rush towards him. "Ugh." Yu drew his katana and slashed through it with a **[Cleave]** once it was close enough. "More monsters to deal with. What are these anyways?! 'Angels'?!"

' **Angel' dungeon unlocked!**

"I was joking…" Yu blinked as some appeared in front of him in a pillar of light. "Are you guys seriously angels? Now I feel bad for Dante because he's being hunted by two factions that are both just as ugly." ' _ **Observe**_ '

 **Affinity**

 **LV: 7**

 **HP: 450/450**

 **SP: 500/500**

 **STR: 19**

 **VIT: 15**

 **DEX: 10**

 **INT: 5**

 **WIS: 8**

 **LUK: 3**

Yu groaned again. "Really? Sending grunts at me? Fine." He coated his blade in lightning and smirked. "Let's dance." As if that was a keyword, the Angels rushed at Yu, attempting to impale him with their spears. He expertly dodged out of the way and was able to counter one of them, dealing a decent chunk of damage. "Can't toy with them yet… I'll just slaughter them." Yu slashed through the burning card that floated down in front of him and immediately had Izanagi fire a **[Mazio]** at them. When that didn't kill them, Yu growled. "You guys are tougher then Shadows, I'll give you that." He spun out of the way of a stab, using the momentum to counter with a **[Cleave]** charged slash. He then had Izanagi finish it for him by slicing it in half. "Take them out!"

Izanagi nodded and rushed towards the angels and hit them with **[Mazio]** to stun them as he slashed through one of them using **[Cleave]**

 **SP: 192/425**

Izanagi then tripped the remaining two Angels and pinned them down to the ground so that Yu could execute them.

Yu smiled as he walked over to the restrained Angels and activated **[Cleave]**. He stabbed down into the the first one and twisted the blade, killing it quickly. As he went to finish the second one, a bullet shot through it, killing it.

"Boy." Bayonetta landed on the ground quietly and walked over to Yu.

Yu waited for her to get close before he dispelled Izanagi and slashed at her with his blade. "Who are you…?!"

Bayonetta blocked the blade with ease and pointed one of her guns at Yu. "You haven't heard of me?" As she pulled the trigger, Yu tilted his head out of the way of the path, making her miss.

Yu saw a ton of windows pop up, all of them counting down to different times and that the danger came from Bayonetta. He barely dodged out of the way of her second shot as he jumped back to get away from the witch. Another window popped up and he spun around to barely block a gunshot from one of the pistols on her feet with his katana. She then kicked Yu down through the building.

 **HP: 23/525**

Yu groaned as he slowly stood in the rubble of the building. "Jesus… That would've killed me."

"That should've killed you." Bayonetta landed on the ground again and calmly walked over to him with a lollipop in her mouth. "Tell me, who are you boy? And what are you doing hunting Angels here?"

Yu panted as he used his blade to help him stand. "My name is a secret, but I can tell you that I didn't even mean to be here. I just went into the bathroom and I ended up here."

Bayonetta tapped her gun to her chin in thought. "Hmm… a human that can summon their own creature AND enter the realm of Angels… interesting. Unfortunately boy, I can't stay, as I have another job in another… country, is what you would call this place." Bayonetta snapped and the air began to shatter. "I'll see you some other time boy!" She walked away quickly and then flew away with butterfly wings on her.

 **[Cleave] has gained a level!**

 **[Cleave] has gained a level!**

 **[Sword Mastery] has gained a level!**

 **[Elemental Enhancement] has gained a level!**

 **[Sense Danger] has gained a level!**

 **[Sense Danger] has gained a level!**

 **[Sense Danger] has gained a level!**

Yu's eye twitched as he began to regain more and more feeling in his body. He walked out of the rubble of Junes and then forced his way out of the cracking barrier. "What a bitch." The barrier shattered and he was standing in front of Junes once again. He pulled out his phone and texted Yosuke and Chie to meet him at the food court. Yu then walked towards the stairs to enter the place. It took them about twenty minutes to assemble but they eventually arrived.

Yosuke crossed his legs as he sat down. "So, we're all here. What are we doing today?"

Yu smiled. "We're going in. You guys brought your equipment with you right?"

Chie tapped her feet to the ground. "Yep! Let's go! We'll save her today for sure!"

The group discreetly entered the TV, with Yu being last. He looked behind him to make sure that no one was following them and he entered the TV after them.

* * *

Yu walked up to the stone guardians and saw that they weren't going to attack him this time. They weren't even counted as hostile. "It's clear to enter." He was about to walk in when Teddie called to him.

"W-Wait! Sensei! I found this!" He held a small pearl towards Yu, who observed it.

 **Goho-M**

 **This is a one time use item to escape dungeons in the shadow world.**

Yu smiled and stored it in his 'pocket'. "Thanks Teddie. I just hope that we won't need to use it." He rubbed Teddie's head gently and then entered the dungeon, the others following close behind.

Teddie closed his eyes in concentration, and then gasped. "Sensei! The path is different then yesterday! Things may get a little tricky from here on…"

Yu nodded. "Understood." He pulled his Katana from his jacket and unsheathed it with a slight flourish. "Beginning operation."

Yosuke looked at Yu like he was crazy and chuckled. "Dude, is that really necessary?"

Yu deadpanned as he looked over at Yosuke. "I thought that it sounded cool. Also, if we're going to be a team, then these things should be called something more mysterious then just 'go into a tv' right?"

Chie hummed in thought. "Well, he has a point Yosuke. Besides, it's a lot of fun to call these things 'operations' instead of whatever we were going to call it!"

Yosuke looked up as he thought as well. "I know it is, but I was talking about the sword thing."

Yu chuckled. "No, that wasn't necessary at all." He looked down the path and became serious again. "When we reach Yukiko, there's no doubt that we'll encounter her shadow, so we need to take extra precautions. Leave no area unsearched, and kill any enemy that gets in our way."

Yosuke flipped his Nata's in the air a bit. "So… video game rules?"

Yu smirked as he activated his wind cloak. "Yep. Video game rules. Now let's go!" He dashed forward, trying to aggro the enemies so that Chie and Yosuke could get the EXP for the kills, as he couldn't put them into a party and reveal his power. Once he thought that he had a good amount of Shadows chasing after him, he ran back to Yosuke and Chie, who were catching up quickly. "Chie! Time to test your powers! You and Yosuke take out as many as possible!" He observed both of them and saw that Yosuke had gained a few levels from the previous battle.

 **The Calm Before the Storm**

 **Yosuke Hanamura**

 **LV: 7**

 **HP: 225/225**

 **SP: 200/200**

 **STR: 7**

 **VIT: 9**

 **DEX: 12**

 **INT: 8**

 **WIS: 4**

 **LUK: 5**

Yosuke quickly summoned Jiraiya and blasted all of the Shadows back with a **[Garu]**. He grinned and taunted the crowd of Shadows. "Bring it!"

* * *

 **So that was the 100,000 word milestone chapter! Hard to believe that we've only just gotten into the story and we're already at the longest search filter. Oh well. Anyways, there are comments that I didn't put at the top of the chapter, so I'll put them down here!**

 **Sonicdude8: Thank you for the compliment! And I know that he didn't really explain it well, but that was on purpose as Aigis will give Mitsuru the detailed report.**

 **So before anyone asks, no, Bayonetta will not be staying in Inaba like Dante and Lolikano. I just wanted to introduce her character to the story. I already mentioned her earlier, and I felt like I should bring the angels into the story and what better way then Bayonetta slaughtering them? Heh. Anyways! I hope that you all enjoyed this chapter and I'll talk to you all later! Bye!**


	10. Lonely Shadow

**Hello eve- I need a better greeting… but still, Hello! Welcome back! Let's just get right to the poll!**

 **Rise: 27 votes**

 **Margaret: 24 votes**

 **Mitsuru: 20 votes**

 **Marie/Labrys: 19 votes**

 **Naoto/Lolikano: 18 votes**

 **Dante: 17 votes**

 **Sho: 16 votes**

 **Yukiko: 11 votes**

 **Chie: 10 votes**

 **Elizabeth: 6 votes**

 **Yukari: 4 votes**

 **Yosuke: 3 votes**

 **Teddie/Akihiko/Fuuka: 2 votes**

 **Kanji/OC: 1 vote**

 **Well… the poll didn't exactly explode but it changed drastically. I know that it's been about a week, maybe two, but I didn't expect it to change this fast! Though one of them is a personal favorite of mine, it'll be hard to keep this up if I keep making plans for people, so after this chapter is posted, I'll be ending the poll in a two days. That way I can get a good grasp on which harem I will be working with. Anyways, that's enough of me droning on. Let me respond to you guys, then I'll**

 **xYuukito: I was just talking about this stupid account that I made which this site doesn't like. Starts with a P and ends with 'atreon'. And that 'user' thing, is my account on here because I tried to post a link to the page in the last chapter.**

 **MysticSpider: Everything depends on the amount of alcohol that I've had to drink. But personally, yeah, why not? It's not like I'll catch 'witch' from her.**

 **Saint of vice koncor: Not anytime soon, but maybe. This is set just a little before the events of the manhwa, and Han Jee-Han is going to be mentioned, but I might not introduce him. But he isn't the Gamer in this one. Yu's luck just beat Jee-Han's.**

 **Exiled Soul Nomad: Honestly, I don't think he will. He'll just be excited to kill something new. Plus, this one actually works during the day in any weather.**

 **Akuma-Heika: He probably did attract attention, but it'll just be spun into another rumor that has no solid proof. Maybe.**

 **Joaco14jc: Absolutely. I'm eventually going to give Rise some Psy attacks if she trains enough, Naoto might get Nuke, but you can't forget about the old ones like Aqua and Tera. Only Yu and some of the older Persona users will be able to utilize them. Then there's the Kouga and Eiha attacks. I hate just instant kill, so they'll get that as well. And for other series… I don't know yet. I just added Devil May Cry and Bayonetta because they fit so well into it already. I might add in some other stuff, a brief mention to Nocturne, maybe a few skills or weapons from other series', but other then that? I have no clue.**

 **Hawkright-011219: Thank you for wishing against a writers block for me, but I wouldn't call myself a writer, and I wouldn't call people plebeians. Some just don't have the hang of writing yet. Thank you regardless though.**

 **Tsun: I realize that their levels are low. And I'm probably going to address that in this chapter.**

 **NickTheHun: Thank you for following this! I, well, yes, this is a rewrite, but I was always a stickler for grammar. I rewrote this because I was making Yu seem invincible way to early on. It's no fun if you can't be beaten. About the numbers… I see the calculations when I sleep. Not fun, so I try to avoid sleep for as long as I can. And then there's the eventual evolution of the skills that I'll need to calculate as well. I'm just glad that I figured out how to write these by keeping a list of Yu's stats, skills, everything, I'll also have a list for when his team mates begin to train using his power. The voice was actually modeled after Mew who acts all friendly to get on your nerves, and two witnesses, which are two super powerful killers who just bicker with each other all the time. I just did it because I think it will be funny to have Dante and Lolikano both teach him and then just start yelling at each other in the middle of the training. Thank you for your support, and I hope that this is entertaining everyone who reads this!**

 **Enjoy everyone!**

* * *

"Speech"/ "Different Language"

' _Thought'_

" _Telepathy"_

" _**Shadows"/ "Demons" / "Gods"**_

 **Windows/Skills**

* * *

Yosuke panted heavily as he killed his tenth Shadow. "They just keep coming! It wasn't like this yesterday!"

Chie glared at Yosuke as she took out her seventh. "What do you mean by that?!"

Yosuke didn't bother looking at Chie as he tried to dodge the attacks of the Shadows. "I mean there were only like, three or four of them! I don't know why there are so many now!"

Yu looked at both of their HP, and it didn't look good. "We got the Shadow's attention last time, so that might be why there are so many now." He slashed through a couple of them and then summoned Izanagi to deflect one that was charging towards them into another Shadow. "We need to go! We can't kill this many of them!" " _Can you get the loot Izanagi?"_

Izanagi nodded and knocked back the Shadows, trying to get the loot. Though he knew that Yu just wanted to give his friends a head start.

"Get going! We aren't that far in, so you can get out! I'll be right behind you!" Yu gritted his teeth as he fired spell after spell, carefully watching his MP so that he doesn't collapse.

Yosuke looked over at Yu while Jiraiya fought back the Shadows in front of him. "Is this going to become a theme for you?! We aren't leaving without you!"

Yu looked back at Yosuke. "Just go Yosuke! You too Chie! I'll make it out! It's not like this castle is collapsing!"

Yosuke groaned loudly as he began to run. "Fine! But we are going to have to talk about how you help us get away!"

Chie just stared at Yu. "You're sure?"

"Go! We'll come back some other day!" Yu's eyes flashed blue as he turned back towards the Shadows. "Teddie, go with them. You can tell them if I'm getting out. That's very important, okay?"

Teddie nodded and grabbed Chie's wrist before running away as fast as he could.

Yu looked back and waited until he was sure that his friends were out before looking at Izanagi. "You got this. Just keep them distracted. Once I'm almost out, I'll recall you, okay?"

Izanagi didn't respond, instead choosing to kill some Shadows.

Yu nodded and turned to run out of the castle. He dispelled Izanagi a little early however, and as he exited the dungeon, the horde of Shadows rushed at him. The spears crossed as soon as he exited the castle, and he just kept running, straight past his friends. "Go! I didn't tell you to stop running!"

Yosuke looked back at the entrance and and saw the mass of Shadows coming towards them. "S-SHIT! CHIE RUN!" He took off in a full sprint after Yu, not quite as fast as him, but faster then the Shadows.

Chie didn't bother looking back and just ran as fast as she could, barely avoiding being dragged by Teddie again. "What do we do?!"

Teddie looked back while running and then yelped loudly as he took off comically. "RUN! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!"

Yu panted as he ran across the metal catwalk. He smiled as the stack of TVs began to come into his field of vision. He skidded to a halt in front of it. "Go through!" When he saw Yosuke hesitate, he groaned and pushed him through, same with Chie. "Teddie! Are you going to be okay?"

Teddie nodded. "Shadows don't go after me! I was just running because they're scary!" He looked back at the hoard and yelped again. "Here they come! Sorry Sensei!" Teddie ran back and then charged at Yu, shoving him through the exit. "Please be okay!"

* * *

Yu groaned as he fell out of the portal with zero grace. "Ow… Teddie…" He slowly stood up and rubbed his back.

Yosuke sighed as he looked at Yu. "Now what…?"

Chie looked at Yosuke's hands and then covered her mouth to keep herself from yelling at him. "Y-Yosuke! Your weapons!"

Yosuke seemed confused, then looked down at his hands. "Crap! I forgot! Where are we supposed to hide these?!"

Yu closed his eyes and then sighed. "Give them to me." He took the pair of Nata from Yosuke and stored them into his **Inventory** right in front of them. "I'll explain later. Right now, we need to go the the Samegawa riverbank."

While Chie was stunned, Yosuke nodded, accepting the fact that he could make things disappear, just hoping that they weren't gone forever. "Why there?"

Yu sent a text to Dante, telling him to grab Lolikano and head to the river. "Because that's where I train every morning. When we get there though… just don't freak out." He began to walk out of the store, leaving his teammates behind to process what just happened.

Chie was still staring at where Yu was standing just now, before grabbing Yosuke by the shirt and staring into his eyes. "Did you see what just happened?!"

Yosuke nodded a bit, nervous. "So? We have weird powers too."

"Yeah, but that's on an entirely different level then our weird power!"

Yosuke slowly pried Chie's hands off of him and then sighed. "Look, I'm sure that he'll explain once we get there, okay, so let's just go with this for now."

Chie slowly nodded and then began to go to the riverbank.

* * *

Yosuke and Chie were both just staring at the sight in front of them, in total shock. Again.

Yu was in between Dante and Lolikano trying to kill each other by using Izanagi to assist him. "Both of you calm down! I called you here for a reason!"

Lolikano tried to lunge at Dante. "No way am I doing what you want me to do!"

Dante tried to grab at Lolikano. "And I refuse to work with this witch!"

"Hey!" Lolikano poofed into her normal form and tried to hop over Yu, just to be pulled down by Izanagi. "Don't turn factual statements into insults demon spawn!"

"I keep telling people that there's a difference between demons and Devils!" Dante went for the guitar case on his back before he felt Izanagi's blade on his neck.

Lolikano was about to cast a spell when she felt Yu's blade on her neck.

"That is enough! I know that I can't kill you two, for multiple reasons, but come on! Can't you two get along for five minutes?!" Yu pushed both of them away from each other. "You two are acting like children!"

Lolikano hit Yu in the face with the end of her broom, sending him into the river. "Not when the demon kidnapped me from my hotel room and groped my chest on the way here!"

Dante hit Izanagi as well with the guitar case, sending the persona flying into the air. "I told you already that it was an accident! You were squirming! It was almost like you wanted me to-"

Lolikano cast a lightning spell at Dante, shutting him up. "Don't you dare finish that sentence!"

Yu groaned as he dispelled Izanagi and shoved his way past the two bickering trainers. "This. Is what I deal with now. They're supposed to be training me, but the only thing that I'm learning is how annoying it is when two fully grown adults scream like apes over the most trivial things."

Chie just pointed a finger at Lolikano. "T-That's our European history teacher… and she just turned into a kid."

Yu looked back at the two and then shrugged. "That's actually how she really looks, but she's older then we are." He then turned to back to the two and yelled at them. "Even though she acts like she's three years old!"

Both Dante and Lolikano turned to Yu and yelled the exact same thing. "Screw you!" They then went back to yelling at each other.

Yosuke began to shake in amusement, covering his mouth to keep himself from laughing.

Chie looked at Yosuke. "What's so funny about this?"

Yosuke glanced at Chie and then barely held back his laughter as he explained to her. "J-Just imagine them as chibis."

Chie nodded and looked back at them, and when she saw them bickering in chibi form, she began to laugh uncontrollably, falling onto her back from it.

Yu looked back at his teammates and then sighed. "Dante, do you want to get paid? If so, then shut up!"

Dante groaned and then looked down at Lolikano. "This isn't over shorty."

Lolikano turned away and crossed her arms in a huff. "Agreed, bastard child."

"Why you little-"

Yu walked in between them and then pushed them away again. "Okay! Now that you're done, care to explain how you'll be training me?"

Lolikano nodded and created an empty barrier, dragging Yosuke and Chie into it, the two other high schoolers still laughing. "Right then! Here's how this is going to happen. Dante and I will be training you and whoever you bring along with you in the mornings, while we hunt with you at night. Seeing as you have some neat dungeons that I can exploit for magical items, and he can exploit them for money, and a little bit of venting on both of our ends, seems like a fair deal, plus, it levels up that skill of yours. So, what are we going to do Dante?"

Dante opened his case and pulled Rebellion out of it. He then tossed the case aside. "I'm going to help you train your physical stats, while Mistream is going to help you train your mental and spiritual stats. Basically, I'm going to attack you a lot."

"And I'll do the actual hard work in getting your INT, WIS, and LUK up. Still working on how to make the INT training fun for me, but hey, not everything can be fun." Lolikano shrugged as she pulled a die out of her hat and handed that to Yu. "A coin is just two sided, not enough probability. But with a die, that's three times more things that can happen. The higher you roll, the more your LUK stat progresses. For WIS, you had the right idea with Shogi, but I think that there's a better way to level that. ANd the solution is giant three way, 3D chess! We just need to find a third player. But until you reached a decent level, we'll stick to normal chess. I feel like playing against a person will be better then a computer."

"And what's the fun part for you?" Yu had a really bad feeling about the answer.

Lolikano smiled sweetly. "Every time you roll a one, or lose a game of chess, I get to hurt you!"

"I knew that there was a catch…What's the INT training?"

"Just you reading." Lolikano shrugged. "No big deal. But I think that learning a few languages would be good for that."

"And the punishment for failing…?" Yu sat down and began to roll the die in his hand.

"No punishment. I just beat you throughout the whole thing." Lolikano wore a sadistic grin mask that she pulled out of her hat. The mask itself was bleeding. "Let's get started!"

Dante scoffed. "I believe that physical training comes first."

Lolikano smirked behind her mask. "Maybe that's why you're so stupid. All that physical training damaged your brain so badly that you're legally retarded."

Dante sighed. "Really? A retarded joke? That's just way too easy. But what about the newbies? You want us to do anything with them?"

Yu looked at the two. "Can you work together to torture and torment and other things of the like?"

The two reluctantly nodded.

"Good. Because you two also get to break in Chie and Yosuke. You'll have to heal them afterwards though. They don't have the same ability as me. Just let me invite them to the party and you can 'train' them to your heart's content." Yu felt a lot of pity for the other two, but they needed to get stronger as well. And the fastest way to do that would to have the two resident badasses train them. "Dante, you go first." He then looked back at Chie and Yosuke, who were still laughing. "Invite Chie Satonaka, Yosuke Hanamura, Lolikano Mistream, and Dante to party, ' **Training** '."

Dante grinned in anticipation.

Yosuke stopped laughing for a moment and saw the window in front of him. He was going to say something as he looked at Yu.

Yu just nodded.

Yosuke sighed and pushed on the 'YES' button, hoping that he wouldn't get hurt. The window `disappeared and he saw the stuff that Yu saw above everyone's heads. His eye twitched as he pointed at Dante. "Y-Y-You're level two hundred!"

Dante shrugged and then looked over at Chie, who was still laughing. He grabbed her wrist and made her touch the button. "Okay! So, now that you maggots are ready, I want you to start training immediately!" He kicked Chie in the ribs. "You too girly."

Lolikano wrapped her arms around Yu's arm. "While he's training with them, we can send some 'quality time' together~~~" She giggled and began to drag Yu away.

Yu just groaned.

* * *

Yosuke screamed as he ran from Dante. "WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?!"

Dante fired another shot at Yosuke's feet. "Because this is how I train! The girl dropped out on this course, so that leaves just you!"

Yosuke panted heavily as he kept running.

 **RUN, SLAVE! RUN! +1 DEX**

"W-What the-" Yosuke had no time to worry about the window as Dante shot dangerously close to his feet.

"Keep running." He fired off two shots, both right at Yosuke's heels.

"That was two!"

Dante blew on the barrel. "I know. I'm getting bored. You aren't as fun to torture this way…" He grinned as he holstered Ebony and Ivory. "I got an idea." He summoned Agni and Rudra and begat to slash away at the air, sending blades of flames and wind flying past Yosuke. "Now THIS is more like it!"

Meanwhile, Dante was using his Doppleganger to oversee Chie's alternate training. "Just keep going." He was sitting on her back carrying a boulder while Chie did push ups. Apparently these were the easy ones, as Dante had said. Because she opted out on the running, her punishment was the extra weight of a boulder.

Chie nearly hit the ground again as she did her best to glare at Dante. "Just let me stop bastard!"

Dante hit Chie in the back of the head. "Shut up."

 **Is your spine broken yet? +1 STR**

Chie ignored the window, kinda afraid that she would have to do something even more extreme if she didn't keep going.

Lolikano was still dragging Yu farther away. "Where are we going?"

"To my place~ I have everything there." Lolikano took on the flirty tone again.

Yu sighed. "Okay, I have to know. How old are you?"

"Such a rude thing to say…~ But I suppose I could indulge you if you answer a question of my own~" Lolikano licked her lips slightly. "I'll answer first~ Do you think that I'm sexy~? Answ-"

"No. Answer my question." Yu rolled his eyes at Lolikano's question. She already knew the answer, so why did she ask?

"Meanie… fine. I'm in my sixties." Lolikano fake pouted again and then giggled at Yu's face. "Surprised?"

Yu just nodded. "I guess the abyss has some really effective anti aging stuff if you look like a twelve year old in your sixties."

"T-They told me that I look sixteen! Do I really look twelve?!"

Yu nodded. "Have you seriously not seen that? You looked around the school, and you didn't realize that you looked younger than a sixteen year old?"

Lolikano poked her fingers together. "W-Well… I kinda… have a complex with looking old."

"Yeah. I can see that. You also seem to have a complex with looking too young. There's got to be some kind of aging product out there right?"

Lolikano nodded, but then sighed. "But it's so expensive. The most I could afford is to look… about fourteen, if I look like a twelve year old."

"Then you'll either save up money or grow into the sixteen year old body. It's really not that hard." Yu shrugged a bit.

"Ugh…" Lolikano dropped Yu and sat down. "You wouldn't be saying that if you knew how much it cost. Most people never make that much money in a lifetime."

Yu shrugged again and began to walk to the Amagi Inn. He felt really bad for coming there, seeing as he was supposed to he rescuing Yukiko, but was training instead. "Not my problem. Let's just get your shit from your room and leave."

Lolikano pulled the chessboard out of her hat. "I lied. I just didn't want to be near that demonspawn."

Yu looked back at Lolikano and sighed as he sat down across from her. "So, is this just normal chess, or is there some kind of magical punishment where whenever you lose a piece, you get hurt?"

Lolikano's eye twitched and she slapped herself. "Why didn't I think of that?! That would make it so much more interesting! I mean, I guess I could do it now…"

Yu chuckled nervously. "Y-You really don't have to do that on my account!"

Lolikano smirked evilly. "Cute, but this is for me~ This is what you get for asking a woman her age!"

Yu shook his head and then set up the pieces on his side. Lolikano likes the dark pieces, because she gets to call it her 'Army of Evil' for some reason. "You know that the light pieces could also be evil right?"

"There are themes that I'm used to, like Darkness is evil. I was raised on that. So I figured as long as I don't use magic that involves the corruption of one's soul, I'd be fine. You get the first move."

Yu nodded and moved his pawn on the far left one space forward. Ten minutes and MANY instances of pain for him later, he had lost five times. Though his WIS already went up by one, so he figured that it was fine.

"We'll play until you gain five more points, giving you forty. I think. Forty right?" Lolikano looked up at the smoking teenager in front of him, who merely responded with a nod. She smiled. "That was fun. I hope you enjoy these next few games like I will~"

By the time they had gotten Yu's WIS to forty, he was twitching on the ground, foaming from the mouth, which amused Lolikano to no end. It had also taken around two hours so he had to endure all of that.

"How was it Yu-kun~?" Lolikano leaned over the board and saw that Yu was still twitching. "Okay, now you're exaggerating."

Yu sighed and then sat up. "I tried to get out the next part. Anyways, what's next?"

Lolikano held up her broom menacingly with a sadistic grin.

"Right… Luck training…" Yu pulled the die he got out of his pocket and cast it, and as it landed on a two, he was hit in the back of the head really hard by the witch.

 **[Physical Endurance] has gained a level!**

' _Just one hit?!'_ Yu stared at the screen before sighing and grabbing the die again.

Lolikano twirled her broom like it was a pike. "What's your LUK stat at?"

"Hold on. **Status**."

 **Name: Yu Narukami**

 **Job: The Gamer**

 **Title: Dungeon Crafter**

 **Arcana: Fool/?**

 **Level: 10 Next Level: 82.95%**

 **HP: 525/525(Regen 10.5 per minute)**

 **MP: 425/425 (Regen 17(8.5+8.5) per minute)**

 **STR: 19**

 **VIT: 21**

 **DEX: 25**

 **INT: 17**

 **WIS: 35**

 **LUK: 21**

 **Stat Points: 26**

 **Money: 45990 Yen**

 **Affinities:**

 **Fire: Minimal**

 **Lightning: Low**

 **Wind: Minimal**

 **Perks:**

 **The Fool: +10 to LUK, allows usage of multiple Personas and their Arcanas**

 **?: Not Unlocked**

 **Saintly Patience: Makes it near impossible to lose one's temper**

 **Indomitable Will: Grants the willpower to never give in to anything**

 **Status effects:**

 **Mental trauma: (High) Induces a constant state of fear and distrust, brings up horrid memories at the mention of any random word or situation. [Partially negated by Gamer's Mind]**

"Twenty one, plus I have twenty six free stat points." Yu was about to close the window, when Lolikano had another thoughtful look.

"What's the stat that gives you more Mana?"

"That would be INT. Why?" Yu eyes Lolikano, really not liking the look on her face.

"Good. Dump all of your free points into INT."

"What?!" Yu shot up, accidentally casting the die. It landed on a six. "You can't be serious!"

Lolikano sighed. "Look, you clearly need more Mana. Even now, you only have the mana reserves of someone who just got their power, or a child trained in the mystic arts."

Yu glared at Lolikano, then sighed. "Fine… I think I'm going to regret this though…" He then placed all twenty six free skill points into his INT, bringing it up to forty three.

Lolikano hummed a bit. "Okay, that should be good for now. Now we can start with the part of the training that I didn't tell Dante. But you aren't ready for that yet. For now, keep raising your WIS and LUK. We'll stop once you get your stat to twenty five. Go!"

Yu scrambled to get the die and cast it again, with it landing on a two, causing him to get hit in the back of the head with the broom again. As the rest of the hour passed, Yu had gained the four stat points he needed, and two more levels in **[Physical Endurance]** , which kinda worried him because he knew that she was holding back a lot so he didn't die. So just how strong is she? He even checked her stats out. All he got was her level, and the rest were question marks, even though she was in his party.

"Okay, we're done here." Lolikano hit Yu in the stomach to knock him onto his back. She then grabbed the chessboard and put it back into her hat. "And before you ask, the hat trick is a real thing. Most just fake it." She put her hat back on and began to drag Yu back to the group. "I am so glad that I set up a slowed time barrier. We could be in here for days and it would be minutes out there." She then gasped. "I have an idea~~~"

"Oh no… what now?!" Yu glared at Lolikano as she dragged him by his ankles.

"We do that for your training~! Spend days in here and get closer to one another by beating the shit out of each other! Then on your way to the school, you can practice your barriers o that you will eventually have a slowed barrier where we can kill things!"

"What did I do in my past life to deserve this…?"

 **Luck is a balancing act! This is one of the reparations that Lady Luck is giving you! I suggest you raise that stat quickly~! Or someone close to you might die.**

' _Ominous… Pixie, Izanagi, do you have any idea what this means?'_

" _Well, Souji, I think it means that the one who governs luck will kill someone close to you."_

' _I got that part. What I mean is, why is the game giving me a warning?'_

" _..."_

' _Real help there Izanagi… Pixie?'_

" _Umm… Oh! It's giving you a reason to focus on that stat!"_

' _Thank you Pixie.'_

Lolikano shrugged. "I dunno. Maybe you pissed off some god or something."

* * *

Philemon was watching Yu being dragged around by a midget in a gothic dress. It was hilarious, but he knew how powerful she is. Not as strong as he, but just enough to be recognized by him.

" _I dunno. Maybe you pissed off some god or something."_

"Oh dear Mistream. You have no idea how right you are." Philemon flipped a card and saw the Falling Tower. "And it seems that things will begin to collapse around you in the distant future." He sighed and then saw a black mass forming in front of him. "Hello Nyarlathotep."

" _ **Hello Philemon. It's been quite some time, hasn't it?"**_

Philemon nodded. "That it has. But, I must wonder, what compelled you to recruit _her_ of all people?"

 **Nyarlathotep chuckled darkly.** " _ **If I'm going to be honest, it's because she was the only one available. The rest are either sealed off or not interested. And I didn't want to go through the trouble of causing ANOTHER person suffering to unseal one of them. It's no fun if you have to do everything yourself."**_

Philemon shook his head. "Honestly… everything is still a game to you, isn't it…?"

" _ **Of course it is! Why else would I do anything?"**_ **The black mass slowly shifted into a very pale little boy with hair blacker then the darkest night. Their eyes were covered.** " _ **The only reason I broke out of my prison is because it got boring."**_ **Nyarlathotep grinned, showing fangs that were dripping with blood.** " _ **But now things are going to be much more fun~! Thanks to you, we have a true Wild Card in play, not those other Fools, but one that has no fate! Granted, the one who sealed Nyx 'by himself' was impressive, but he was fated to die there. The games you play with me are usually so boring that I have to play with who knows how many people at a time to be entertained. But now…~"**_ **The Elder god licked their lips in excitement.** " _ **I can't wait to see what this one does!"**_

"You're out of your mind." Philemon glared at Nyarlathotep. "There is no chance that you will win this."

 **The Elder God chuckled, amused by something.** " _ **...Tell me again, how many times have we fought one on one? Millions of times, and I believe that I beat you every single time. So now, you're using teenagers to fight me instead! How precious!"**_ **The god poked Philemon's arm and the limb disintegrated.** " _ **Just between you and me though…"**_ **They leaned forward and whispered into Philemon's ear.** " _ **I let your teenagers win last time. I could've killed them anytime I wanted. But you won the bet, so I let them win. You will**_ _ **never**_ _**beat me at this~ The universe is already mine, so just accept it while you still have an arm to play with."**_ **They leaned back and suddenly just disappeared.**

Philemon held the now bleeding stump of an arm he had. It was regrowing. "Dammit… He's been toying with me this whole time…?" He flipped a card for himself and saw the Devil in the upright position. "That… is not good." He has a fate which is going to end in disaster. The only time someone like him or Nyarlathotep has a fate is when the Weaver of Fate is certain that they'll die. Which means that this 'game' with the Elder God will be his last. "I better prepare them before I perish."

* * *

After a few days of grinding abilities in Lolikano's 'Time Twisted' barrier, as she called it, The three Persona users were nearly broken. Moreso Chie and Yosuke, then Yu, as Yu recovered much faster then the other two. Dante and Lolikano on the other hand, could barely contain their laughter.

"T-That was so much fun!" Lolikano finally failed at containing her laughter as she saw the three students twitching on the ground.

Dante only let a chuckle escape him so he could talk. "Yep! That got rid of my frustration about these three perfectly!"

Yu slowly stood up and then flipped the two off as he collapsed again.

" _Are… you okay Souji?"_

' _YOU KNOW DAMN WELL THAT I AM NOT OKAY! I DON'T KNOW HOW THEY DID IT, BUT THEY GOT PAST THE PAIN THING THAT_ _ **[GAMER'S BODY]**_ _DOES!'_

" _S-Sorry…But it is funny."_

Yu groaned loudly as he used his sheathed Katana to help him stand. "I… am going to burn that broom when you sleep Mistream…" He summoned Izanagi on reflex, somehow actually looking intimidating.

"Huh. Well, look who's trying to look like me!" Dante smirked as he crossed his arms.

Lolikano, on the other hand, was actually put off by the fact that Yu's eyes were glowing blue. "Umm… Dante. I don't think that we should push anymore."

Dante scoffed. "Why not? It's fun to do!"

The witch cleared her throat. "W-Well, I was spying on you guys when you were fighting in Junes… and I saw how heartlessly he killed those demons. I'd… I'd rather not be on the receiving end of that. Even if he can't hurt us, the fact that I'm worried about this means that you should stop being stupid."

Dante looked over at Lolikano and was about to say something, when he saw just how serious she was. "So you're saying that he's a threat when he's like this?"

The witch shook her head. "I'm just afraid to find out. So I suggest that you stop antagonizing the kid. But shouldn't his **[Gamer's Mind]** thing be working by now?"

Dante grabbed Rebellion again. "Might be delayed from the fact that he's messed up in the head."

"He's insane?" Lolikano prepared a binding spell just incase something happened.

"Nah. Just tormented. Badly. You see it in his eyes. And before you ask, he didn't tell me, it's more like you've seen it once, you can recognise it anywhere. His power might be messed up because of that." Dante gripped Rebellion harder, getting ready to fight.

Yu was about to charge at them, when his mind suddenly cleared.

 **Effect (Rage) has been negated by [Gamer's Mind]**

Yu took a deep breath before dispelling Izanagi with a sigh. "Took it long enough." He staggered over to the two and handed each a 10000 Yen stack of bills. "Here. Thanks for the training."

Dante pocketed the money immediately win a smirk. "As long as you're paying, it's no trouble at all."

Lolikano also took the money. "Why are you paying us?"

Yu glanced over at the two other Persona users who were struggling to stand. "Five thousand for each extra person. I figure that's enough along with the satisfaction that you caused us all unspeakable suffering." He then sat down and pulled out some paper and began to make masks. Each one was slightly less crappy then the last, but he was just killing time as his teammates recovered.

Lolikano peered over Yu's shoulder and smirked. "Planning on doing a little role playing with a girl tha-"

"Let me stop you right there. No, I don't plan on doing that. I'm making these masks to level my **[Crafting]**. Also, because I found a dungeon that only lets us in if we wear masks." Yu unfolded the paper and began to make another one.

Lolikano hummed and stole one of the sheets. "This… This is eternal paper. Where did you get this?"

"My power identifies it as 'Idea Paper'. It's a common drop by some of the creatures I fight." He made another crappy mask and then groaned as he unfolded it.

 **[Crafting] has gained a level!**

"Well, it looks like the masks you're making are preeetty low quality. Do you have a Crafting skill or something?" Lolikano quickly folded the paper into a model of one of the 72 devils, then channeled a tiny bit of mana into it, causing it to snap back into its paper shape.

Yu nodded. "It just leveled up as well. I figured that if we have a few more days in here, I might as well make the most of it. Because if I can make a good enough mask, then we might be able to enter the dungeon multiple times a day with a different mask on each time."

 **[Crafting] has gained a level!**

Lolikano nodded a bit. "So...this is Idea Paper…" She channeled mana into it and thought of turning it into a mask. It obeyed her and she handed it to Yu. "Here you go! I even made it black!"

Yu stared at the mask and then sighed. "How did you do this…?"

"I just channeled mana into it and thought about making it into a mask! Easy stuff!"

Yu sighed. "Well, unfortunately, I don't know how to do that,, so I have to stick with making them by hand until we get to the practical lessons." He just kept making masks.

 **[Crafting] has gained a level!**

Lolikano kept watching until she got bored. She hit Yu in the back of her head and then smirked. "You're trying too hard. Tell me what you improved over the past few days as a distraction."

Yu looked up at her, then sighed. "If you insist. Well, first and foremost, my **[Physical Endurance]** skill went up by… I think it was seven times, because every time you hit me, it was harder then the last time you hit me. Then there was the actual training. You were able to get my WIS up another three points, my LUK up another five, and my INT by one. I'm still surprised that you were still able to get another point out of that."

Lolikano watched as Yu made another mask as he spoke. "Uh huh. And what about Dante's training?"

Yu sighed. "Somehow, it wasn't as effective as yours. Maybe it's because you didn't just beat me up, but you beat me with… an excuse. Anyways, he was able to get my **[Sword Mastery]** up another four levels, bringing it to a nice even twenty, and my **[Pistol Mastery]** went up by seven levels, bringing it to eight."

"Mmhmm…" The witch watched as the mask sparked a bit.

"He was also able to get my **[Sense Danger]** up to thirty, which will probably help, and my **[Life Drain]** skill went up two levels as well. As for the stats…" Yu shivered slightly. "I don't want to talk about it, but my STR went up by six, my VIT by seven, bringing my HP up to seven hundred, and my DEX only went up by three."

"Anything else?" Lolikano smirked as Yu finished the mask up, it sparking with electricity. ' _He must've been passively channeling lightning magic into it. I'll need to teach him how to control that.'_

"Well, my **[Cleave]** skill went up by four levels, and my **[Elemental Enhancement]** went up by six, considering that I have it up all the time." Yu sighed. "That's it. So how did I do?" He looked at the mask and saw that it was sparking.

 **Paper Mask of Lightning (Uncommon)**

 **This mask is made of magical paper, used to hide your identity**

 **Lightning Enchantment (Low): + 5% Damage to Lightning element attacks**

 **Concealment: Hides the identity of the one who wears it.**

 **[Crafting] has gained a level!**

Lolikano smiled a bit. "It's weak, but it should serve its purpose. Plus the lightning thing is a nice touch to it. Shame that it's yellow." She grabbed the mask and made it grey and black. "There. Now it looks better. Kinda."

Yu took the mask back and kinda fixed it to the glasses, just so he could see what it's like. It didn't really change anything for him, but when he looked back at Lolikano, she punched him in the face.

"Take that off! It's creepy!"

 **HP: 613/700**

Yu groaned as the glasses fell off of his face, taking the mask with it. "Ow… Was that necessary Sensei…?" He grabbed the glasses and took the mask off of them.

Lolikano nodded. "Very." She then glanced at Dante. "Hey! Demonspawn! Quit kicking Yosuke! You have to show some love to your other students too!"

Dante stopped kicking Yosuke for a moment to look at Lolikano, then started to kick him again.

Lolikano groaned and started to use her **[Life Drain]** spell and redirected it over to Yosuke, then to Chie. Once they were healed, she cut the spell and took the rest of the life energy she drained for herself. "Okay. NOW you can kick them."

Dante used Quicksilver to appear behind Lolikano with Gilgamesh on and threw a string of punches so fast that it looked like he had multiple arms.

Lolikano just blocked all of them with a barrier spell. "Yu, grab your friends and get out. Dante and I have something to do right now." She used a wind spell to throw Yu over to the others and then kicked them all out. "Now then, let's give you another beating!~"

* * *

Yosuke stared at Yu as he recovered on the ground. "… Was all of… that real…?"

Yu smiled. "Just as real as a world inside of a TV." He helped Yosuke to stand, which was really difficult for him.

Yosuke was exhausted just by standing. "If that was real… then I know why you told us to stay away from Sparda-sensei. He's a freaking monster. And a slave driver. How do you deal with him?"

Yu shook his head. "I don't. I just ignore what he says most of the time and just react to what he does. I'm not going to waste brainpower on analyzing that mess." He poked Chie softly. "… I think that Dante broke her." He looked around and dragged them into his own barrier. "So, we might as well kill some things on our way to school. Would you prefer fighting Angels or Demons. I can only open a Zombie dungeon at night."

Yosuke blinked in disbelief. "So… that window. Does this mean that you can make your life into a game?"

Yu shook his head. "No, it means that my life was _made_ into a game. Huge difference. But it's come in handy a couple of times. Like for grinding monsters. Angel or Demon?"

Yosuke sighed and then flipped a coin in his head. "…Demon. Can't be too bad, right?"

Yu smirked and tossed Yosuke his weapons. "Prepare to be surprised." He opened the **[Rengoku]** menu and then nearly pressed on the Demon dungeon. "Hold on a sec. **Party**." Another screen popped up. "I knew that there were settings for this thing. Disband party 'Training'. No… **Dissolve party 'Training'**."

Yosuke was confused, then the words above Yu's head disappeared. "Woah! That's amazing! So you can drag people into this game?!"

Yu shook his head. "They have to be invited. Like this. **Create Party 'Shadow' Invite Yosuke Hanamura and Chie Satonaka.** And there we go. I think."

Yosuke flinched again when a window popped up in front of him.

 **Would you like to join the party, 'Shadow'?**

 **[YES/NO]**

"This is real. Holy crap." He cautiously touched the **YES** button. "I didn't get a chance to think about this before, but this is… holy crap…" Yosuke looked back at Yu to see that the words had returned. "So… What's 'Dungeon Crafter' supposed to mean?"

Yu shrugged. "It's just a title. It's supposed to give me twice as much EXP in dungeons that I've made myself. Okay… EXP sharing?" He pushed on that button and saw a list of ways to share EXP. "Let's see… Equal distribution?" There was a tab for it, so he pushed on that as well.

 **Equal Distribution is a setting in parties that you can set. It's most recommended for parties grinding enemies. Depending on how many people are in the party, let's say two, and you get 100 EXP, that would be distributed equally, but with a slight bonus for partying up. A 10% bonus to be exact, which means that each member would get 55 EXP. Now say that you have three party members and gathered 150 EXP. The bonus then would be 15% and you would net 58 (rounded up) each. NOTE: You cannot set Equal Distribution on if there is a level difference of ten.**

Yu shrugged and set 'Equal Distribution' up. He then looked over at Chie and shook her slightly. "Chie. Get up. We're actually going to get stronger instead of tortured, so you need to get up."

Chie groaned and looked at Yu. "…Fine… But you better treat me to steak after this." She slowly got up and stared at the window in front of her. "What is this?"

Yu looked at Yosuke, who sighed. "Fine. I'll explain it. Basically, Yu here can make our lives into a video game. All you need to do is push the 'YES' button and he can probably explain it better."

Chie looked at the window warily, the slowly pushed 'YES'. The window popped out of existence. "W-What…?"

Yu then snapped to get their attention. "Okay, first, open your 'Character' screen. Just say 'Status' like you want to see the sheet and you'll get the window.

Yosuke shrugged. " **Status.** " The window popped up in front of Yosuke.

 **Name: Yosuke Hanamura**

 **Title: The Calm Before the Storm**

 **LV: 7**

 **HP: 375/375 (Regen: 7.5 per minute)**

 **SP: 250/250 (Regen: 9(7.5 + 2.5) per minute)**

 **STR: 12**

 **VIT: 15**

 **DEX: 20**

 **INT: 10**

 **WIS: 6**

 **LUK: 8**

 **Stat points: 0**

Yosuke eyed his stats a bit. "Hey, why is my WIS so low?"

Chie snickered a bit. "I think that this game is pretty realistic then. Okay, I'll give it a shot. **Status**."

 **Name: Chie Satonaka**

 **Title: The Hero of Awazu**

 **LV: 9**

 **HP: 500/500 (Regen: 10 per minute)**

 **SP: 200/200 (Regen: 8 (4+6) per minute)**

 **STR: 15**

 **VIT: 20**

 **DEX: 13**

 **INT: 8**

 **WIS: 6**

 **LUK: 7**

 **Stat points: 0**

"WHY IS MY INT ONLY EIGHT?! I-I mean… That means 'Intelligence' so… yeah. WHY THE HELL IS IT SO LOW?!"

Yu looked over at Chie. "Five is actually the average for all of these, so you're above average."

Yosuke looked at his. "Ten. Huh. Is that good?"

"Ten is the maximum amount you can have if you don't train like hell."

Yosuke smiled a bit and then nodded. "Okay, what's yours at?"

"Forty four."

"Jesus!" Yosuke actually fell backwards from that. "What the hell?! Is there some kind of cheat or something?!"

Yu shook his head. "No, I just studied my ass off until it got to eighteen, then Mistream-sensei had me dump twenty six Stat points into it."

Chie made a confused noise. "I don't play games much, but is that a lot?"

"You get five free stat points per level."

Yosuke looked at Yu like he was crazy. "So you're saying that she had you dump about six levels worth of points into your INT?"

Yu nodded. "INT determines how much SP you have, or MP for me, because I have a skill called **[Mana Efficiency]** , and summoning your Persona has a base cost of ten thousand MP or SP every minute it's summoned. So you need to actually count the seconds or you will be useless in combat."

Yosuke's eyes widened. "Jesus. Ten thousand. Does that get lower?"

Yu pulled up his skill and then nodded again. "My skill level is at fifteen, and it's down to eight thousand six hundred. It goes down by one hundred each level. Though it slows down a lot at ten. All the skills do. The trick is repetition. That's how you get stronger. Just keep doing more of the same thing. So, do you guys want to fight first? Or would you rather get some real training?"

Chie smirked. "I'd rather fight! If what you're saying is true, then we can also fight things to get stronger, right?"

Yu smirked. "Yosuke?"

Yosuke nodded and flipped his Nata's a bit. "Sure. That thing in the TV was… _fun_ … but now we got your other power supporting us, we should improve faster. We do that, we can save Yukiko faster."

Yu pushed the words, and then the sunlight shifted to a blood red around them. "Never been in this one before. Let's see what pops up." He equipped his mask and smirked as his stance shifted.

Chie looked over at Yu. "Well, someone looks confident."

"I can act confident here." Yu then shifted his wind armor to lightning, small bolts of electricity running over his clothes. "Let's rock." He then ran forward and at the slowly 'spawning' demons.

 **Shadow**

 **Level: 10**

 **HP: 700/700**

 **DP: 200/200**

 **STR: 23**

 **VIT: 28**

 **DEX: 34**

 **INT: 2**

 **WIS: 1**

 **LUK: 5**

There were mostly Marionette's and Sin Scissors and Scythes, but there were a few of those Shadows around. They looked like wolves, but they were black, purple, and hazy, but with red glowing eyes. "Okay, pay attention. The wolf things are fast, and they're strong! Avoid them! Also avoid the blades on the floating ones! The puppets aren't a real threat, but they're annoying, so take them out fast and focus on the floaters!"

Yosuke just stared at Yu like he was crazy.

Chie looked over at Yosuke and then shrugged. "Come! Tomoe!" She kicked the flaming card that appeared in front of her and ran after Yu. "Let's do this!"

Yosuke saw Chie summon her Persona. "We can do that in real life?!" He shook his head and slashed through the card that appeared in front of him. "Come! Jiraiya!" He took off running as Jiraiya formed behind him.

Yu smirked and summoned Izanagi silently, who flew into the air and fired as many **[Mazio]** attacks as he could without risking MP exhaustion. Luckily Yosuke and Chie were close enough to get the EXP from that. Yu shifted his enhancement to his blade and began to cut through enemies. Not all in one hit, though sometimes he got lucky, so it was really risky, but as he dispelled Izanagi, he thought that these Marionette's were much weaker then before. Maybe it's his dungeon scaling down their power so him and his party wouldn't die. Yu laughed as he flipped over a Sin Scythe and pretty much executed it as he summoned Izanagi to impale it as he cut where it's throat would be. He then took the scythe before the demon faded and had Izanagi throw it kinda like a chakram, causing it to mow through a line of demons before the weapon faded in black smoke.

Yosuke barely dodged a Marionette's attack but then cut through it's strings, causing it to slump on the ground and fade into black smoke. "Chie! Use Tomoe to cut the strings on the puppet…things."

Yu suddenly remembered something vital. "Leave one of them alive!"

Chie had Tomoe cut the strings of the Marionette's slowly surrounding her. "Why?!

Yu blocked a Sin Scissor's attack and then had Izanagi slice it in two. "Because if we kill everything, then a boss will spawn! And because these are demons… Well, I don't think that we want that!" He then grabbed onto a Shadow and had to slash at it around seven or eight times to kill it.

Chie nodded as she kicked one of the puppets onto the blade of a Sin Scythe. "Y-You know, besides the overwhelming fear of death, this is kinda fun!" She then saw a Shadow coming right for her and as it pounced she slid under it and kicked it in the side, sending it over to Yosuke. "Yosuke! Look up!"

Yosuke did just that and saw a demon wolf flying right at him. "Seriously?!" He groaned and has Jiraiya blast it with a **[Garu]** , which sent it to Yu. "Son of a- Coming your way partner!"

Yu looked up as well and smirked as he has Izanagi impale the wolf. "Two down, six to go before we should leave!" Obviously, he was talking about the wolves, but there were a surprising lack of demons from Yu's self made lightning storm. Apparently, the hard part about dealing with hordes of enemies is dealing with the ones you missed in your opening attack.

Yosuke nodded and kept slashing through the strings of Marionettes. It was too obvious of a weak point, but maybe they were just minions that were expendable. "How many puppets do we have left?!"

Yu had Izanagi throw him into the air so that he could count rapidly. "About twenty! Focus on the floating ones!" He then activated Cleave and had Izanagi throw him at a Shadow, slicing the wolf in two. "Five…" Yu sensed a Sin Scythe behind him and he deflected the demon's blade, then sliced off it's arms, grabbed its weapon, and slashed up at it, making it and the weapon turn to demonic smoke. He checked Chie and Yosuke's health and it was not looking good. "Get back! We're leaving now!"

Chie nodded and ran away from the remaining demons, quickly meeting up with Yosuke, who was panting heavily. "You okay?"

Yosuke looked up at Chie. "This is nothing compared to Sparda-sensei… That said, I've been better!"

Yu was thrown by Izanagi, causing him to tumble on the ground and somehow stop right in between the two of them. He grabbed their ankles and then destroyed the dungeon, and the monsters inside of it, and then created a blank barrier around them. "Okay… that hurt." Yu slowly scooted out from in between the two and stood as a window popped up.

 **Battle Log (sorted)**

 **[Detect Bloodlust] has gained a level!**

 **[Detect Bloodlust] has gained a level!**

 **[Detect Bloodlust] has gained a level!**

 **[Detect Bloodlust] has gained a level!**

 **[Detect Bloodlust] has gained a level!**

 **[Elemental Enhancement] has gained a level!**

 **[Elemental Enhancement] has gained a level!**

 **[Garu] has gained a level!**

 **[Mazio] has gained a level!**

 **[Mazio] has gained a level!**

 **[Mazio] has gained a level!**

 **[Mazio] has gained a level!**

 **[Observe] has gained a level!**

 **[Observe] has gained a level!**

 **[Observe] has gained a level!**

 **[Rengoku] has gained a level!**

 **[Sense Danger] has gained a level!**

 **[Sense Danger] has gained a level!**

 **[Sense Danger] has gained a level!**

 **[Summon Persona] has gained a level!**

 **[Summon Persona] has gained a level!**

 **[Summon Persona] has gained a level!**

 **[Sword Mastery] has gained a level!**

 **[Sword Mastery] has gained a level!**

 **[Sword Mastery] has gained a level!**

 **[Sword Mastery] has gained a level!**

 **You have gained a level!**

 **You have gained a level!**

 **You have gained a level!**

 **You have gained the title (Apprentice Demon Slayer)**

 **Apprentice Demon Slayer: +/- 5% damage dealt/taken to/from demons. (Can evolve)**

 **You have earned 40276 EXP!**

Yu sighed when he got rid of the window. "That was a lot to read. You guys okay?"

Yosuke nodded silently. "Hey, what's **[Dagger Mastery]**?"

"Think weapon mastery in games for daggers. More damage, more critical hits, more usage out of them." Yu twirled his blade for a second, then sheathed it to put it into his inventory. "You guys get any good skills out of that?"

Chie nodded as well. "It says here that I gained three levels."

Yosuke looked at the bottom of his **Log** and saw that he had gained five. "Holy crap. I got five. What should I spend my points on?!" He opened up his status page and was about to dump them all into STR.

"Yosuke!" Yu grabbed Yosuke's wrist before he could do anything. "You can't just do that. You have to carefully consider where you're going to put your points, if you even want to spend them at all!"

Yosuke gulped and nodded. "So… you're saying save them until I either need them or use them on something that I need?"

Yu nodded. "For you, I would put most of your points into DEX, thirteen points to be exact, then five to INT and VIT each, and dump the rest into either STR, WIS, or LUK."

Yosuke nodded and did exactly that. "Woah… that felt amazing!"

Chie looked at hers. "Hmm… What about me? I think I should put mine into STR, but… I'm not sure…"

Yu walked over to Chie and then smiled. "Increase your INT to ten first, then we can see about your other stats, okay?"

Chie was hesitant, but then upped her INT to ten. She immediately felt the difference. "Wow. Yosuke was right, that DID feel amazing! And… I should but more in VIT because that's health, right?"

Yosuke walked over to Chie and smirked. "Since when did you start to learn about video games?"

Yu sighed. "Honestly I'm surprised that you two are taking this so well."

"I think that Chie's still in shock, so she's just going along with stuff. Me? Well, that's probably the case for me too. I mean, fighting demons? A power that makes your life a game? I think I'm just done thinking for the day." Yosuke looked around. "So how do I get out of this?"

"Okay, I put my points in VIT and STR. And I can actually feel it!"

Yu stared at the two of them. "Funny. When I increase my stats, that doesn't happen to me. Now your exhaustion won't go away in half an hour, so you two need to go back to your homes and sleep."

Yosuke nodded and then yelled a bit when Yu pushed him out of the barrier.

Chie got mad because Yu pushed her on her chest, even though it was just to get her out of that place, he still-

"Let's go Chie!"

Her thoughts were interrupted by Yosuke. She nodded and began to walk home with him as he lived near her house.

Yu sighed as he collapsed onto the ground in his barrier. "Great… first week of living here and this happens.

 **Quit whining! At least you have a purpose now.**

"… Nope. not questioning it."

Dante tore his way into the barrier, soot nearly covering him. "I sensed demons! Where are those bastards?!"

Yu just looked over at Dante and waved.

Lolikano flew into the barrier and hit Dante on the back of the head with a baseball bat. "I'm not done with you yet!" She then looked at Yu just laying on the ground. "Huh. You got stronger. What, did you slaughter a horde of demons?"

Yu stared at them.

Dante glared at Yu. "You didn't… Dammit! Now Mundus is going to send his stronger ones at me! How strong were they?!"

Yu pretended to think for a minute. "Weaker then the ones I fought when we first met. They were probably just pulling stuff from my memory. But I don't know why those wolves were there."

Dante sighed in relief. "Good. You didn't kill real demons. Just copies from your memory. The world is safe right now. Well… safe-ish."

Lolikano sighed as she got off of her broom. "Honestly Dante, you worry _way_ too much." She then hit him in the crotch with the bat. "Nothing's gonna happen. Now then, kid." She leaned down to look Yu in the eyes. "Did you get any skill points?"

Yu nodded. "Fifteen of them."

Lolikano smiled. "Save them for an emergency. Or until I say to use them." She then kicked Yu in the ribs. "That's for going into a dungeon without me."

Yu groaned and held his ribs as he sat up. "Sorry, but they didn't drop any items… well, except for these red orb things, but that's not important. What's important is that they're strong enough to fight now. Sorta."

Lolikano nodded softly. "…What are their highest stats?"

Yu actually had to thin for a minute this time. "Well, Chie's is a twenty seven VIT and Yosuke's is a thirty three DEX."

"Bring yours up to thirty five right now."

"Why?"

"Because a leader has to inspire and push their followers in all senses of the phrase, which means that you need to make sure that you're better than them."

Yu sighed and nodded, bringing his DEX to thirty five begrudgingly. "There. Making me waste my points for shallow reasons…" He then stood and destroyed his barrier. "I'm going to go home. We'll do our usual hunting and then Mistream, you're going to help me make a wind and ice mask for them. Okay?" He walked away, leaving the two adults to their own devices. Yu knew that it was a bad idea, but hey, what could he do?

* * *

 _Yu walked through a thick fog on an asphalt road. He didn't know where he was going or if he even cared. He didn't even know how he got there. But he kept walking regardless, hoping that there was a way out of his hell. Two voices had been whispering in his ear through the entire time he's been walking._

"Don't give up! Keep moving! Someone will come for you!"

" **No one's coming. You'll be left alone in this place like always. Alone, afraid, and left to die."**

" _Shut up! Both of you! Whoever you are, get out of my head!" Yu gripped his head as he stumbled forward. "I… I can do this… I'll find someone eventually." He then saw a figure in the fog. It was him. With yellow eyes._

" **Why even bother? Like I said, no one's coming for you. They probably just abandoned you just like everyone else."**

" _Quiet…"_

" **Don't deny it! You'll always be alone, no matter how surrounded you are. Once they realize just how dangerous you are, then they'll go running, and you'll be abandoned. Ju-"**

" _I said quiet! Don't you think that I know that?! You don't have to rub it in my face!" Yu shouted at his clone. "How the hell do you even know this?!"_

 _The clone chuckled darkly._ " **Because I'm you. And you are me. There is no separating us. I'll be with you until the day you die."**

" _Great. Just great." He patted the clone's shoulder as he walked past. "Good luck with that."_

 _The clone just blinked and turned to Yu._ " **You aren't going to vehemently deny me?"**

 _Yu shrugged. "What's the point…? Accept you, reject you, you'll still be there. So why bother?"_

'Wow. He's so broken that even his Shadow feels bad for talking like that. Poor kid…' "Yu, you need to keep going."

 _Yu looked up at nothing. "I got it! Quit saying that over and over!"_

 _Yu's Shadow watched as his original began to walk away. Once he was out of sight, the Shadow began to follow him._ ' **I...I don't want to be alone anymore…'**

Yu shot up panting heavily, but also noticed that he wasn't in his room.

Margaret chuckled softly. "I see that you've awoken."

Yu turned his head to see that only Margaret was inside of the limo. Even the driver was gone, as the car was not moving.

"My apologies, but the Master is not in at the moment, so I will have to… No." Margaret shook her head. "Everything here happens for a reason." She set the Compendium down and looked Yu in the eyes with a smile. "Welcome to the Velvet Room." She chuckled with a genuine smile. "I've never greeted anyone by myself before."

Yu sat up and stretched a bit, then saw a crystal ball in the middle of the table. "Umm… what's that?"

Margaret looked at the table and calmly, but suspiciously put the crystal ball away. "That is something that we've been using to monitor your dreams, or rather, the lack of them. The one you experienced, however, was a repressed memory." She then pulled out her own stack of Tarot Cards. "Would you mind if I performed a reading for you? Just on you yourself, not on your past or future. I wish to better understand you, as a guest."

Yu shrugged. "I don't see why not."

Margaret smiled and set the cards up on the table as she moved from her spot into Igor's. She flipped all of the cards at once though, not caring for theatrics. "Let us see… You are… Well, these cards are difficult to read, but it should only take a moment to decipher them."

Yu simply smiled and waited.

Soon Margaret gasped softly, then shook her head. "Y-You are normally a very introverted, and feel very alone, though when you are with your friends, you are exhilarated simply from the fact that you have people to spend time with. You also feel like someone is toying with your life loosely, even though it seems that you have complete control. Even though that sometimes you cannot control your actions, you will still take responsibility for them… You get a rush out of the danger of battle, yet you hate it. All of these are because of something in your past. Though I won't pry…" The center card that told everything that she needed to know was Death, in the reverse position. She knew what it meant as well. That his hope had been destroyed time and time again.

Yu smiled. "That was pretty spot on. Don't you think that you could be a little more then just an assistant to Igor if you have talent like that?"

Margaret quickly put the cards back into her coat and went back to her seat. "I assure you that my power is nothing compared to that of the master."

Yu nodded and then stood up and walked over to Margaret just to sit down next to her.

Margaret glanced at Yu. "W-What are you doing…?"

Yu sighed. "Just sitting here. You always look like you want someone just to talk to, so here I am."

Margaret blushed ever so slightly, then looked away with a smile. "Another time, perhaps. I have to wait for the master's approval first."

Yu was about to say something, but another chained card floated in front of him.

" _I am thou…Thou art I…Thou hast forged a new bond… These bonds shall be your eyes to see the truth! Thou shalt be blessed when fusing Personae of the Empress Arcana!_

As before, one of the chains on the card shattered in a somewhat spectacular manner.

 **You have gained the Social Link:**

 **Empress: Margaret**

Margaret seem shocked, but then smiled, closing her eyes as she looked away. "It seems that I am one of your bonds that will assist in your journey." She chuckled. "The Empress. How ironic that I manifest as that bond." She shook her head. "I believe that your time in this world is nearly up. For now, I bid you adieu." She tapped Yu's forehead, and cast **[Dormina]** on him so that he would wake in the real world.

* * *

 **Whew! Okay! Sorry that this is a little late! Something happened on Friday that didn't allow me to finish the chapter, and then yesterday… You don't care. Anyways, I'll keep this short, and simple. Thank you for reading, and all of you have a Happy Mother's Day!**


	11. One Mystery Solved

**Lolikano: Sooo….?**

 ***stares, then groans* Cookies are above the fridge.**

 **Lolikano: *runs off to get the cookies***

 **Okay… so hey guys. I got Lolikano to guard my house for the pay of cookies somehow… Don't know why they're so good…**

 **Dante: They're pot cookies.**

 **No they are- okay maybe a little, but just enough so that you know you're eating a pot cookie and I'm just digging the hole deeper and deeper...ANYWAYS! I apologize again for the late update from the other one that will not be named right now. So, once I respond to the reviews, I have to go out and get some more ingredients, and a lot more ramen.**

 **Abdullahsaurus: Thank you!**

 **MysticSpider: … Well… you aren't wrong, but Dante won't like it if more witches start popping up.**

 **Revamped Persona: Well… interesting name. And I thank you for taking interest.**

 **So I'm going to go out now.** _ **DO NOT FIGHT EACH OTHER!**_

* * *

"Speech"/ "Different Language"

' _Thought'_

" _Telepathy"_

" _**Shadows"/ "Demons" / "Gods"**_

" **Spell Incantations"**

 **Windows/Skills**

* * *

 _Yu sighed as he walked along the misty road of his mind again. He was most likely dreaming again, but he didn't care all that much. He just kept walking. Farther and farther from where he started, dragging… somethings with a bunch of chains bound to him._

" **Why do you keep going when you know that you'll be alone…?"** _A mirror figure of Yu stood in front of him. He had sad, glowing yellow eyes._

 _Yu shrugged. "Why not? There's no point in stopping, so I might as well keep going forward. See what's at the end of the road I suppose." He walked past his Shadow, and just kept walking forward._

" **But what happens when you get to the end of the road?! Do you just stop?! Or turn back?!"** _Shadow Yu shouted at his host as he distanced himself further._ " **Do you just leave behind your loved ones?!** "

 _Yu stopped for a moment, then looked back at his Shadow. "I keep walking. If it's my time to stop, I'll keep walking. There's no point in stopping. And I'm fairly sure that they'd drop me as soon as they figure out I'm going to die, so do I really have any loved ones?" He sighed and began to walk forward again. "If you aren't going to be helpful, then just leave me alone, and don't come out of me."_

 _The Shadow stared at Yu, and then fell to his knees._ " **I… I'm just so alone… I don't want to keep going… I want to stay where people know me… and don't loathe me…"**

 _Yu stopped once again, then groaned as he turned and walked back to his Shadow. "Who gives a damn what others think? They aren't you. They aren't me. They can't possibly understand, even if they support us. And…" He sighed. "You can come with me… if you help me drag this stuff. It's pretty heavy."_

 _The Shadow stared up at Yu, then nodded hesitantly. He then the chains on Yu's left side and wrapped them onto his left side._ " **Thank you…"**

" _Why are you thanking me? I'm you."_

* * *

Yu yawned as he got off of his futon and dismissed his daily window of the game telling him that he was fully healed. He quickly equipped his school garb and then walked downstairs, left a note, and then left for the Samegawa floodplain. Yu hummed a bit as he walked, trying to alleviate his boredom as he walked. Maybe he shouldn't have thought that he was bored though.

"Hello~~~!" Lolikano appeared next to Yu in her normal attire.

Yu groaned. "Training doesn't start until I reach the floodplain sensei… So why are you here?"

Lolikano hummed softly, feigning the act of thinking. "Can't a teacher visit her student without wanting something~?"

Yu looked down at Lolikano and rolled his eyes. "Not you. What do you want?"

Lolikano sighed. "Fiiine. You caught me. I want you to take me into a dungeon with you. Nothing too bad, I just need some things to sell online for that treatment."

 **!QUEST ALERT!**

 **Lolikano's Friendship (1/10)**

 **Main Objective 1: Take Lolikano Mistream into a dungeon of your making!**

 **Main Objective 2: Defeat the dungeon boss!**

 **Side Objective: Defeat 50 enemies with your party before you leave the dungeon.**

 **Rewards: Increased closeness to Lolikano, 10000 Yen, 20000 EXP**

 **Failure: Decreased closeness from Lolikano**

 **Do you accept this Quest?**

 **[YES/NO]**

Yu shrugged and accepted the quest. "Sure. Why not?" He then created a party called **Mages** and then used **[Rengoku]** to open up the Angel dungeon.

 **[Rengoku] has gained a level!**

"Cool. My barrier skill just leveled."

Lolikano smirked as she hopped up onto her broom. "So what are we fighting?!"

Yu simply looked up as he drew his katana from his Inventory. He saw multiple figures flying around above them, then flinched as they suddenly looked down at the two.

Lolikano's eyes widened and then glared at Yu. "Are you INSANE?! These are the soldiers of Paradiso! If you kill even _one_ of them, then they'll never rest until you're dead!"

Yu cracked his neck and then looked at Lolikano. "Yeah… about that…I maaaay have killed three of them. Well, two. That other woman killed the last one." He scanned the figures and saw that they were all Affinity.

Lolikano looked up at the enemies and saw that they really were glaring at Yu. "And… what did this woman look like?"

Yu fired a **[Garu]** at the enemies to knock them out of the sky. "Tall, pale, had a mole right under her mouth, wore all black…"

Lolikano groaned. "Bayonetta… dammit! I swear! Wherever she goes, these guys show up!Usually, I would avoid them, but I don't think that I have a choice here! Do I?!"

"Yeah you do!" Yu rushed towards the falling Angels and grinned.

Lolikano watched and then sighed. "No… I don't." She held her hands towards the targets and closed her eyes. " **I swear by the bloodroot, I lookest at thou. Now, thine life belong to I, come forth without hesitation."** A wave of red magical energy emanated from her and spread quickly throughout the dungeon, targeting any angel in the area. The Affinity's in front of them suddenly went limp as red energy was pulled from their bodies.

Yu looked back at Lolikano and saw hundreds of tendrils made of a smoky red energy flow into her. "What… the… hell…?"

Lolikano absorbed all of the energy and then sighed softly. "Okay. We're done here! I'll go get the loot!"

Yu sighed and nodded. He was about to relax, but his **[Detect Bloodlust]** skill went off. He rolled forward and stared at his previous spot was impaled by a blade connected to a flying… face.

 **Compassion**

 **LVL: 10**

 **HP: 300/300**

 **SP: 600/650**

 **STR: 15**

 **VIT: 8**

 **DEX: 9**

 **INT: 10**

 **WIS: 11**

 **LUK: 5**

Yu looked back at Lolikano. "A-Are these things really angels? They seem a little… nightmare inducing."

Lolikano opened her eyes and nodded. "Guess Heaven's not everything it's cracked up to be." She clapped her hands together and then summoned her **Scythe of Life**. She spun it in the air and then sliced behind her, killing another angel. "Let's get to work. I want my items!"

Yu nodded and then hit the Angel in front of him repeatedly with his Katana, killing it quickly. He was about to go after another one, but a spiked wheel slashed through it.

" **Teloch!"**

Lolikano groaned and looked over at the source of the wheel of death. "Bayonetta… Why?! This was supposed to be my time to get items!"

Bayonetta landed in front of Yu and glared at him. "What are you doing here again boy? I highly doubt that you were dragged in here a second time."

Yu sighed. "Look, you can either debate this with me, or we can kill these things. Okay? Glad you understand." He dashed forward and unleashed a flurry of slashes at a Compassion that was rushing towards the Left Eye.

Bayonetta stared at Yu, then smirked. She then turned to Lolikano. "Is he always like this?"

Lolikano nodded as she slashed through another Angel. "Yep. Though usually, he's like this because me and his other teacher fight all the time. And beat him constantly to make him stronger."

Bayonetta gazed at Lolikano, then chuckled. "You're the Witch of Slaughter, aren't you?"

Yu groaned as he stabbed an angel through the eye. "Introductions later! Get to killing these things."

The Umbran Witch sighed. "He just sucks the joy out of everything, doesn't he?"

Lolikano nodded shallowly and threw her scythe back, slicing through a few more enemies. "Just do it and you'll get to beat the crap out of him later."

Bayonetta sighed again and then nodded. "Very well. I will play along with this game of his." Two blue guns that matched the ones connected to her ankles. She quickly shot off a few shots at the Angels that began to surround them as they spoke.

Yu rolled her eyes at Bayonetta's weapons. "She has more of them, doesn't she?" He then sidestepped a slash from one of those things, then grabbed it by its blade and threw it at the Umbran Witch.

Bayonetta quickly shot the thrown Angel with one of the guns on her feet, then flipped backwards and pushed off of the ground to throw herself into the air. She slowed down time for everything but herself and laughed as she jumped onto one of the faces and then propelled herself towards another, shooting at it and hitting it with every shot, quickly killing it. She then spun around again and the guns on her feet disappeared and were replaced with… ice skates. Bayonetta kicked the flying angel in front of her and sent it into the ground, causing ice to form around it fast enough to be able to shatter the body on impact.

Yu's mind was unaffected by the time slow, so he was wondering why he was so slow! He had to move faster. So he channeled lightning throughout his body again. Through his muscles, his blood, his bones.

 **A special skill has been created through a special action!**

 **By channeling the essence of Lightning through your body, you have gained the skill [Haste]!**

 **Haste** **(Active): LVL:1 EXP: 0.00% MP Cost: 70: For the times your body just can't keep up, make it faster!**

 **\+ 5% DEX when applied**

 **Duration: 60 seconds**

 **Can be applied to others.**

Yu activated **[Haste]** as soon as the notification went away, and he felt faster, but still not fast enough. Then the purple disappeared and he flipped out of the way of a Compassion that was going to impale him. He kicked it into the ground and saw it disappear in a bright light when it was shot in the eye.

Bayonetta looked around for more angels. "Are you done playing around boy?"

Yu sighed and checked his quest log to see his progress. He's fairly sure that his party has killed 50 enemies, so all that's left is the boss.

 **!WARNING!**

 **BOSS IS NOW SPAWNING!**

Yu shook his head. "I guess not. We have one more thing to deal with." He cast **[Haste]** on Bayonetta and on Lolikano before rebuffing himself. A large pillar of light shot down in front of them and two figures jumped out. Both had large claws, one draped in flames, and the other coated in lightning.

 **Escort of The Creator**

 **Grace**

 **LVL: 40**

 **HP: 1700/1700**

 **SP: 900/900**

 **STR: 54**

 **VIT: 23**

 **DEX: 15**

 **INT: 20**

 **WIS: 10**

 **LUK: 5**

 **Escort of The Creator**

 **Glory**

 **LV: 40**

 **HP: 1100/1100**

 **SP: 1400/1400**

 **STR: 30**

 **VIT: 22**

 **DEX: 52**

 **INT: 20**

 **WIS: 8**

 **LUK: 9**

Bayonetta moved her arm a bit, and then looked over at the two enemies. "Well now. I haven't encountered any of these things in a while." The guns in her hands disappeared and were replaced with two slightly curved blades and she rushed the two figures, slashing at the air a few times before two purple ethereal blades that slashed at the two bosses.

While Grace was hit, Glory quickly dodged under the blade and rushed towards the Umbran Witch. It slashed at her viciously, lightning streaking in the air behind it.

Bayonetta cried out as she was knocked back from the Virtue's attack, arcs of lightning coursing through her body.

Yu snapped as he summoned Izanagi just to add a bit of flair to his ability, then pointed his katana at Glory. "Let's draw its attention." He then dashed towards the boss monster and flipped over it as Izanagi slashed directly at it. Yu shifted his **[Elemental Enhancement]** to his armor and to lightning as he began to attack Glory in near perfect synchronization with his Persona.

Lolikano sighed and sat back, just waiting for the two close range fighters to be done. She had wanted a little more of a challenge than this, but she might get it now, seeing as the residents of Paradiso would be after her for the rest of her life. She just took the time to let it all sink in.

Bayonetta flipped back onto her feet and appeared behind Grace. "You two are naughty, hitting a woman like that!" She kicked it where its spine should be and then made the swords disappear in a flash of purple light as a whip made of demonic flesh appeared in her right hand. "You'll both need to be taught a lesson!" She cracked the whip against the ground, tearing the asphalt apart.

Yu glanced over at Bayonetta and then shook his head slightly as he retreated from Glory for a moment. ' _Getting the weirdest sense of deja vu here. Better keep my distance.'_ He smirked and whistled at Glory. "Hey! You know, usually I'm a nice guy, but geez! You have a face that not even a mother could love! And does your speed also say how fast you are in bed?"

Bayonetta laughed at Yu's taunt, finding it hilarious as she whipped Grace into a building.

Glory roared loudly as its half mask cracked slightly.

 **A special skill has been created through a special action.**

 **By being a prick to an enemy, you have gained the skill [Taunt]**

 **Taunt** **(Active): LVL: 1 EXP: 0.00% MP: 40: You know what this does.**

 **10% chance of an enemy shifting its attention on the caster when used.**

 **Inflicts target with the status effect {Rage} when successful.**

 **Target is enraged! When this occurs, their physical attacks are 15% more powerful than**

 **usual, but they cannot cast magic attacks, and will only target whoever enraged them.**

Yu quickly began to dodge Glory's very long, slightly projected string of attacks. "Bayonetta! This thing is focused on me! Get rid of the other one fast, 'cause I don't know how long I can last against it!" He blasted himself back with **[Garu]** while hitting the Virtue in front of him, knocking it back as well. He summoned Izanagi in front of him and had his Persona slash at the lunging figure. He was about to make the Persona stab impale it, but Glory was knocked away by a giant fist coming from a portal.

Bayonetta walked over to where Yu is and backhanded Grace as it lunged at her. "It appears that you haven't been paying attention boy. I don't take orders from people like you, and I don't bow to things like them. So you best watch your tongue." She stepped in front of Yu, brandishing her quadruple pistols again. "Or I'll tear it out of your mouth and throw it into the Inferno."

Yu rolled his eyes and then turned to face the rising form of Glory. He recast **[Haste]** on himself and Bayonetta and then readied himself for something. He wasn't sure what it would be, but he was readying for it.

Bayonetta popped a red rosebud lollipop into her mouth and smirked. She stepped into her battle stance and stared Grace down. "Let's dance, baby!"

 **You are in sync with Bayonetta! The two of you are temporarily boosted in all stats!**

 **You have discovered the form of magic: Wicked Weaves. You must have a strong connection with an Infernal Demon to utilize this form of magic.**

 **You have discovered the fighting style: Bullet Arts. You must be at least LV 50 in Pistol Mastery to learn this skill.**

Yu shook his head at the ridiculous requirements of the things his power registered and then felt a tapping at his side. He glanced at the source and saw that it was Bayonetta's gun. It flashed purple and was replaced with a flaming claw. Yu seemed to get the hnt and shifted his enhancement over to his katana.

Bayonetta smirked when she felt the sparks come from Yu's blade. "It seems you aren't as stupid as you look boy."

Yu chuckled. "Yeah, I don't have anything good to counter that with. All my insults are as bad as your outfit." He then shifted his leg to the right and spun around at the same time as the Umbran Witch, slashing up at Grace, knocking it into the air. He then had Izanagi knock it away from Yu so that he could hit it with a **[Mazio]**. When it hit, he saw a flash of light come from the creature, then saw it explode. He smirked and saluted the scattered corpse, then groaned. "I'm turning into Dante… I'm gonna take a break from training with him for a few days, okay Mistream?"

Lolikano nodded and suddenly began to plot the various ways she could torment Yu with her training.

While Yu attacked Grace, Bayonetta had slammed Glory into the ground with flaming claws. She then kicked it off of the ground. " **Alcrete!"** She kicked Glory back into the grip of two demonic hands. She walked over to the device and then slowly turned the wheel that was attached to the hands. "Hmm. Still works." She grinned and then kicked the wheel as hard as she could, making the hands quickly crush the angel in between them, making blood spray everywhere. She hummed a bit and then walked over to Yu.

 **You have completed Stage 1 of the Angel Dungeon! Would you like to continue?**

 **[YES/NO]**

Yu stared at the window and then shook his head. "I am not ready for the next stage of this place…" He pushed the **NO** button and the dungeon shuddered before becoming an empty barrier, the loot still scattered around. "Lolikano, could you go get the loot? You can keep half of whatever dropped."

Lolikano has dollar signs in her eyes and then flew off on her broom to go collect all of the angelic loot that was dropped.

Yu sighed and then turned around to face Bayonetta, only to dodge a thrust of her gun that would've sent him flying. "Really? Again?" He jumped away from the witch, then used **[Garu]** to dodge out of the way of a lash from the fleshy whip of Bayonetta's, rolling away from her. "God woman! What is your problem?!" He summoned Izanagi and had it slash at Bayonetta.

"You insulted my outfit!" Bayonetta flipped over the slash and snapped. "So close." A pulse of purple magic came from her hand, slowing down time for everything but her. She rushed towards Yu and fired off a string of bullets around him, then flipped back and snapped to end the spell.

Yu saw the windows from **[Sense Danger]** popping up while Bayonetta ran around him, so he focused on jumping. When the spell ended, he flipped backwards over the bullets, barely able to dodge them. He then saw the witch pointing a gun to his head. "…Son of a-" He quickly tilted his head to the side to dodge the bullet that was fired at him, then cried out as a large fist slammed him into the ground, breaking something of his. Most likely his bones.

 **HP: 37/700**

Bayonetta stood over Yu with a smirk on her face. "Not many can dodge bullets." She stepped on Yu's broken ribs and pointed her gun at his head. "But I'm afraid that this is where we part ways."

Yu glared into Bayonetta's eyes and growled as a blue ring of magic surrounded him. He summoned Izanagi to get the witch off of him and when Izanagi did, he slowly stood up, the ring under him glowing under him. "That's… it. I'm sick and fucking tired of being thrown around by you overpowered assholes!"

" _Tell her boss!"_

" _Let me at her! I'll burn her to a crisp!"_

" _No. Allow me. I'll tear her to shreds."_

The blue circle flashed brightly before a pentagram wrote itself in mana under him. "Do you hear me?! I'M FUCKING DONE!" His eyes began to glow blue as he snarled at the Umbran Witch.

Bayonetta hummed softly, then shrugged. "I may as well allow him to complete whatever he's doing. Not that it will make much of a difference."

Yu growled and wind suddenly burst from the pentagram under him. The air around him became a gale of fire and lightning.

" _Just repeat after us boss!"_

" **I, Shoji Seta, call upon the ancient elements to forge a contract! I enter of my own free will and wish for thee wholeheartedly! Come forth! Spirits of Lightning, Wind, and Fire! Raijin! Shinatobe!** **Kōjin!"**

 **(Indomitable Will)** **has activated!**

 **[Summon Persona] has been altered to [Summon Spirit]! Parameters have changed as well!**

Three figures came forth from the maelstrom of elements. One was a teenager wearing half of the formal kimono, the top had been singed off by lighting. He had a large triple tomoe symbol grafted onto his chest.

The second was a woman with long elegant hair, fair skin, and green eyes, wearing a bright green kimono. Her hair was perpetually being blown back by the wind.

The final elemental spirit was a man with spiky unkempt brown hair, wearing a black dress shirt and khakis. Flames were coming off of his fists. He waved at Bayonetta. "Yo! Honestly, if you weren't our enemy, I'd probably bang y-" He was hit in the head by Shinatobe.

"Focus Kōjin. We're supposed to protect our summoner. He's running out of mana already, so we mu-"

"I'm gonna fry her!" Raijin grinned and threw his hand towards Bayonetta, making a bolt of Lightning shoot at the Left Eye.

Bayonetta's eyes widened as she tried to dodge out of the way of the bolt of lightning. She then cried out as a bit that split from the main bolt hit her chest, sending a couple thousand watts of energy attacking her system. She then looked back at Yu. "Ah. I see. The kiddie gloves are coming off now, huh?" The witch smirked and her claw weapons were replaced in a flash of purple light to reveal rings. The red ones were on her wrists, and the golden ones on her ankles. "Well, two can play at this game."

Raijin laughed a bit, then sent more bolts of electricity at Bayonetta.

 **MP: 775/1100**

Yu ganced at his MP and then shook his head. "Raijin. Stop. For now, I'd like Shinatobe to battle."

Raijin pouted, then smiled as he turned towards Yu. "Summon me a lot, okay?" He then dispersed in a shower of sparks.

Kōjin looked at Yu. "I suppose that means you want me to go as well. Just make sure to call me. It gets boring in the spirit realm." He closed his eyes and then dispersed into cinders.

Shinatobe sighed and stepped in front of Yu. "You're closer to Raijin, so why use me?"

Yu smirked. "Because you can mess with the air."

Shinatobe smiled and then nodded, able to see the plan inside of her summoner's head. She flicked her wrist towards Bayonetta and nothing seemed to happen.

Bayonetta chuckled. "If that's all you got boy, then maybe I should just finish you right here!" She rushed forward, only to run into a wall of solid air. "What? What did you do…?"

Yu smiled and walked towards Bayonetta. "I ended it. You can't attack me from in there."

The Witch glared at Yu and then sighed. "Very well… I concede. You're quite the crafty person, aren't you?"

 **Battle Log**

 **[Sword Mastery] has gained a level!**

 **[Summon Spirit] has gained a level!**

 **[Haste] has gained a level!**

 **[Haste] has gained a level!**

 **[Garu] has gained a level!**

 **[Garu] has gained a level!**

 **[Garu] has evolved into [Magaru]**

 **Magaru** **(Active): LVL:12 EXP: 0.00% MP cost: 30: Through calling upon the element of wind, the**

 **caster may manipulate the wind to the extent of causing harm.**

 **Deals 48 Wind damage to a target.**

 **AOE: 3 feet**

 **[Taunt] has gained a level!**

 **[Sense Danger] has gained a level!**

 **[Sense Danger] has gained a level!**

 **[Sense Danger] has gained a level!**

 **[Sense Danger] has gained a level!**

 **[Sense Danger] has gained a level!**

 **[Elemental Enhancement] has gained a level!**

 **[Elemental Enhancement] has gained a level!**

 **You have gained a level!**

 **You have gained a level!**

 **You have gained a level!**

 **You gained 11700 EXP**

 **You have gained the title [Bane of Umbra]**

 **Bane of Umbra: You have defeated an Umbran Witch once, and you can do it again. X1.5 damage dealt to all Umbran Witches, x1.5 damage resisted from all Umbran Witches.**

Yu smirked and had Shinatobe get rid of the air cube the witch was trapped in. His eyes became grey again and he toppled forward, completely exhausted.

 **MP: 0/1100**

He sighed and waited for some of his MP to regenerate.

Bayonetta chuckled and crouched down next to Yu. "So, what made you resort to summoning those creatures? Did you-"

"I just snapped, okay? I'm done being a toy." Yu looked up at Bayonetta and sighed. "You're all way out of my league, and I just… I'm done with it."

Bayonetta nodded softly. "I know what it's like to feel used boy. And it appears that you're intimate with the feeling as well." She sighed and then pulled a purple butterfly lollipop from somewhere. "Here. This will get you to stop looking so pitiful."

Yu struggled to take the candy and then popped it into his mouth without observing it, not really caring right now.

 **MP: 500/1100**

He shuddered and then stumbled to his feet. "Thanks… I think."

Bayonetta nodded and then pushed Yu back onto the ground.

Yu groaned and then looked up at Bayonetta. "What was that for…?"

The Umbran Witch scoffed and looked away. "That is for being a rude child. You don't hit a woman like that."

Yu rolled his eyes and thought of what might happen if Bayonetta stuck around. "…Please don't tell me that you have plans on becoming a teacher at my school."

Bayonetta's eye began to twitch and she glared at Yu. " _Me_ teaching snot nosed brats who all think that they're better than you are _all day_?! That will only happen if Hell happens to freeze over." She shook her head and then popped a green leaf lollipop into her mouth.

Lolikano flew back dragging a large sack of loot with her, her broom being dragged down by the sack. "How… do you people… carry this junk?!"

Both Yu and Bayonetta looked at Lolikano. "Infernal storage." "Inventory."

Lolikano deadpanned at the two and then sighed as she tossed the bag at Yu. "Okay, so, there were a lot of halo's made of some kind of gold, a lot of feathers, and these weird purple gems."

Yu dumped the contents of the bag out onto the ground and then began to sort through them. After a good ten minutes of boring sorting, there were five piles. One was the halos from the angels, another was a pile of very soft feathers which were probably a crafting material of some kind, Some weird vials of white glowing stuff that was labeled as 'Holy Essence' ' _Like there was anything holy about those things.'_ There was the standard Yen, and then there were the purple stones that were labeled as Soulstones. Well, fragments.

 **Lowest Grade Soulstone Fragment**

 **A crystal made by combining souls into a solid form. This crystal is fractured. Collect 5 fragments to craft a Lowest Grade Soulstone.**

Yu saw that as an invitation, so he grabbed five of the fragments and began to use his **[Crafting]** ability on them to make a whole Soulstone. Turns out that fusing magic items together takes MP. He had no clue, for some reason.

 **MP: 495/1100**

' _Seems obvious in hindsight.'_ Yu looked down and then held up the whole Soulstone.

 **Lowest Grade Soulstone**

 **A crystal made by combining souls into a solid form. This item is used to enhance all soul based magics.**

Lolikano snatched the Soulstone and stared at it, dollar signs in her eyes again. "How many of these can you make?"

Yu shrugged. "As long as I have MP, the-" He was interrupted by a bunch more fragments being poured out from a red and black portal, so much so that they flowed into his lap. "…So that whole thing about storage…"

"Was bullshit yes. Just start crafting!" Lolikano pushed the rest of the pile onto Yu, covering the lower half of his body.

Yu looked up at Lolikano and sighed. "I'll… need an excuse for not showing up. Otherwise King Moron will lay into me tomorrow."

Lolikano rolled her eyes and then pulled a phone out of her dress. She dialed up the school and cleared her throat. "Hi, my name is Lolikano Mistream, the European History teacher. Yeah, I saw one of my students, Yu Narukami, throwing up at the Samegawa. I'm taking him home for the day so he can rest. Okay. Goodbye!" She hung up and stared into Yu's eyes. "Now get to crafting."

* * *

Mitsuru sighed as she drank another glass of scotch. She shook her head and then stared at the man in front of her. The white haired man, which was currently the Korean branch manager at the Abyss Auction House. "Alright. You wish to make a deal with the Kirijo corporation on… what again?"

The man smiled and slid his card towards Mitsuru. "First of all, my name is Sung Ma-Hyun, and as you probably know, I am the branch manager of Korea for the company I work for. We simply want to know how to… upgrade our defenses against thieves. You're the one company that we have not been able to obtain any data on other than anything that's already public."

Mitsuru chuckled as she poured herself another glass of scotch. "And why would I share this secret to one of my competitors? From what I'm seeing, I don't have anything to gain from this deal at all."

Sung Ma-Hyun chuckled as well. "Well… you can be assured the protection of your little psychic secret. Your defences may be good, but when you have agents tailing potential assets, you tend to learn things. I give you my word that we are not targeting Narukami Yu, however, we cannot say the same about Satonaka Chie or Hanamura Yosuke."

Mitsuru slowly leaned forward as she reached for something under her desk. "And…? They know about as much about their power as you do."

The manager winced and then chuckled again. "That's… not all. While we are not going to go after Narukami, I cannot guarantee his safety when his… ability… gets out."

Mitsuru shrugged. "Then we take him in early. We wouldn't want a dead kid over some psychic powers."

Sang Ma-Hyun looked at Mitsuru like she was stupid, then chuckled again. "As a sign of goodwill on my part, I'll share the secret with you. Narukami's power goes _well_ beyond a mere psychic manifestation." He leaned forward as well. "Tell me, do you like games?"

Mitsuru sighed as she leaned back again, this time with her Evoker in hand. "I… have a colleague that has a fondness towards them. Why do you ask…?"

The white haired man pulled out a contract. "Sign the contract, and I'll tell you. You'll see that there is no downside to this agreement. We protect your assets to an extent, and you assist us in protecting our secrets that happen to be at risk."

Mitsuru stared at the sheet of paper and then sighed as she picked up a pen. "Would you rather I sign in hiragana or hanja?"

Sung Ma-Hyun grinned.

* * *

It has been a few days since the investigation team had last entered the castle in the TV dungeon. And after a bit of prep, and selling materials to repair equipment and get new ones, they were standing in front of the Castle again.

Yu turned towards Chie, Yosuke and Teddie to **Observe** them.

 **Name: Yosuke Hanamura**

 **Title: The Calm Before the Storm**

 **LVL: 12**

 **HP: 575/575 [632.5/632.5](Regen: 11.5 per minute)**

 **SP: 425/425 [467.5/467.5] (Regen: 11(8.5 + 2.5) per minute)**

 **STR: 14**

 **VIT: 23**

 **DEX: 34**

 **INT: 17**

 **WIS: 6**

 **LUK: 8**

 **Stat points: 0**

 **Name: Chie Satonaka**

 **Title: The Hero of Awazu**

 **LVL: 12**

 **HP: 725/725 [797.5/797.5] (Regen: 14.5 per minute)**

 **SP: 350/350 [385/385] (Regen: 9.5 (7 + 2.5) per minute)**

 **STR: 26**

 **VIT: 29**

 **DEX: 17**

 **INT: 14**

 **WIS: 6**

 **LUK: 7**

 **Stat points: 0**

 **Name: Teddie**

 **Title: Who am I?**

 **LVL: 1**

 **HP: 100/100 [110/110] (Regen: 2 per minute)**

 **SP: 125/125 [137.5/137.5] (Regen 3.5 (2.5 + 1) per minute)**

 **STR: 5**

 **VIT: 4**

 **DEX: 11**

 **INT: 5**

 **WIS: 2**

 **LUK: ?**

He smiled at the progress that they made, even if it was only for a few days. Teddie especially, because he's been improving himself on his own. "Alright. Is everyone ready?" He was really glad that he had sold his excess items to Daidara. He was able to make equipment that increased his party's HP and SP with the Big Incisors and the Idea Paper he had gotten from his runs in the Shadow Dungeon.

Yosuke nodded. "We can do this, right?"

Chie nodded, a determined look on her face. "Of course we can! We have to save her!"

Teddie gave Yu a smile and a thumbs up. "Let's go Sensei!"

Yn looked directly at the entrance and then nodded, before rushing towards it at his top speed. He then slapped his forehead and cast **[Haste ]** on the party. As the party rushed into the dungeon, they were greeted by a much smaller crowd of Shadows then last time, but a crowd is still a crowd. "Break through Izanagi!" He crushed the card and channeled mana into his blade while it was sheathed. He waited until he was only inches away from the Shadows before drawing his blade and releasing a wave of energy from his katana, knocking the monsters in front of him back. He then stepped out of the way of Tomoe who spun her dual sided Naginata before throwing it at the Shadows who were now grouped together, able to slash through half of them.

 **You have used the skill [Quick Draw] without meeting the requirements for it. + 20% EXP to [Sword Mastery]**

 **You have used the skill [Energy Slash] without meeting the requirements for it. + 20% EXP to [Sword Mastery]**

Chie vaulted over Yu and attacked the remaining Shadows without any mercy. She kneed a Hablerie into the air and had Tomoe smack it into another one with her weapon, killing both of them. She then drop kicked another Hablerie into a Calm Pesce, skewering the ball Shadow. Chie flipped backwards and had Tomoe use the skill **[Skewer]** that she realized she had yesterday. It increased damage to piercing weapons. Tomoe threw the Naginata as soon as it was encased with blue energy, killing the fish thing as well.

Yosuke slid under Tomoe and slashed upwards at another Calm Pesce as he had Jiraiya heal Chie. He then performed a flurry of slashes with his Natas, and finished his combo with a spin kick, sending it into the wall with the momentum that he had gained. He switched out with Jiraiya and had the Persona use **[Bash]** against the Shadows in front of him. It worked like **[Skewer]** and **[Cleave]** but for blunted weapons. The blow sent the Shadows flying, and were then sent higher into the air with **[Garu]**.

Yu equipped his Paper Mask of Lightning and then hit the Shadows that were launched into the air with **[Mazio]** , dealing more damage than usual, as they were in the air and the electrical current had nowhere to escape to, killing the last of the Shadows in the area. "Well, at least our teamwork is up to par."

Yosuke panted softly. "Yeah. But maybe we shouldn't have gone all out on the first things we saw. Hah…" He hunched over with his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath.

Yu nodded. "Okay, so are the stairs in the same place as last time?"

Teddie cleared his throat. "Sensei, like I told you the last time we were here, it moved around. The castle isn't the same as before." He then sniffed the air and then perked up. "But I can smell where the stairs are because it smells like you guys! I'll guide you guys!" " _Okay?"_

Chie nodded with a smile. "Got it! Lead the way Ted!"

* * *

The group panted as they reached the top of the stairs. Yosuke leaned against a wall to recover his breath. "Yukiko… why… did you have… to make such long… stairs…?!"

Yu was only panting lightly. Due to his very intensive training with Dante and Lolikano and his self training at night, he had built up a tolerance for being exhausted. "I don't think that there's anything on this level, so we can rest here… maybe. You smell anything near us Ted?"

Teddie sniffed the air, then looked at the door. "There's something behind the door, but nothing else. I think we're okay here."

Yu nodded and then checked the time. "Okay, it's a good thing that we started early. It took us an hour to get here. That was my fault for saying that we should kill everything in sight. We have to conserve our energy, so from now on we'll only fight what we have to."

Chie nodded a bit as she caught her breath as well. "Alright… so no hunting. Got it."

Yosuke looked at Teddie. "Hey Ted, why aren't _you_ tired?"

Teddie turned to look at Yosuke. "I'm tired! I just don't have lungs!"

A tick mark appeared on Chie's head as her left eye twitched. "So… the five times you were on the ground saying that you can't go on… you were acting?!"

Teddie chuckled nervously. "W-Well...maybe?" He was about to run through the doors, when the group heard someone laugh.

" _ **Now now, there's no need to fight over me!"**_ The large doors swung open to reveal Yukiko wearing the same dress she was wearing on the Midnight Channel, only with a purple haze around her and with the same piercing yellow eyes. She gasped with a smile. " _ **Oh my! Special guests! I wonder how they'll play into all of this! Did you all come for me? How sweet!"**_ She held her hand to her heart, her forearm actually hidden in her pushed out breasts. " _ **But you can't take me away yet! You still have to get through the castle, and the guards! But I have something to wish you luck!"**_ The shadow gigged, then blew a kiss towards the group, then disappeared in a pillar of flames. What replaced her was a large knight Shadow, wielding a very large lance.

 **Left Guard of the Princess**

 **Avenger Knight**

 **LVL: 18**

Yu groaned as he walked towards the Avenger Knight. He somehow felt the kiss that the Shadow blew at him connect.

 **Gamer's Mind has repelled the status effect [Charm]**

He shook his head and then walked into the room with the Shadow.. "Okay. Here's how we're going to do this. Yosuke, you and Jiraiya attack from a distance, and heal us whenever we get weak. Chie, you distract this guy with Tomoe. I'm going to do something new."

Chie sighed as she summoned Tomoe. "Got it! Let's go!" She rushed past Yu and then attacked the knight with a flying kick, that the horse floated out of the way of. In response to this, Tomoe lashed out with a flurry of attacks with her weapon.

Yosuke ran to the edges of the room and began to launch wind attacks at the Shadow from afar. He used Jiraiya to amplify the attacks, costing more SP than the normal **[Garu]** skill would cost. He slid under an ethereal lance that was launched at him and countered by having Jiraiya hit it with **[Bash]**.

Yu smirked as he felt his Mana drop. He activated his enhancement for fire and lit the carpet by his feet on fire. " **[Summon Spirit:** **Kōjin]** " A pentagram of flames quickly formed under Yu's feet from the tiny flame on the carpet. A large pillar of flames engulfed Yu and from that pillar, came the flaming form of a teenager wearing a suit of fire, the flames that made up his hands burning much hotter than the rest of him. The flames were snuffed out by something, but the elemental stayed.

" _Yo. What's up? You need someth-IS THAT A GIANT MONSTER?!"_

Yu looked at Kōjin and narrowed his eyes. "You look different… oh well. I need your help with beating that guy to nothing. You think that you c-"

Kōjin grinned and then rushed towards the Avenger Knight, looking like a large fireball, and punched the horse in the face. From his fist came a blast of fire that knocked the horse to the ground, dragging the rider with it.

Yu glaned at his MP, and saw that that one attack took 300 MP. "Kōjin! Be sparing with the flashy attacks, okay? That one just now just cut my Mana in half!"

Kōjin waved him off and then dispersed, becoming his spiritual form, 200 MP returning to Yu. " _Alright then! I'll support you instead of fighting directly, because all of my attacks are flashy. What do you need?"_

Yu rushed towards the Avenger Knight, his blade still on fire. "I need a fire skill! Fast!" He then slashed at the downed Shadow, the humanoid part of it blocking his slash with its lance.

Kōjin nodded and used Yu's MP to direct the flames onto Yu's katana to his hands. " _Channel Mana into that and then launch it from your palm!"_

Yu jumped away from the Shadow and then channeled 60 points into the fire, then launched the attack. Kōjin didn't tell Yu that it would be a really big fireball. It slammed into the Avenger Knight, both man and horse screaming in unnerving synchronization.

 **A special skill has been created through a special action.**

 **Through the physical manipulation of fire with mana, you have gained the skill [Fire Strike]**

 **Fire Strike** **(Active): LVL: 1 EXP: 0.00%: Cost: 20 MP: Used by magicians of any talent, this skill is the first step of learning combat magic.**

 **Does 50 Fire damage to an enemy**

 **1% chance to inflict {Burning} onto the target**

 **Extra MP can be used to increase the damage of this skill.**

 **Charge time: 2 seconds**

Kōjin whooped at the size of the fireball. " _Nice! But that was kinda wasteful! Do it again!"_

Yu nodded and then launched another **[Fire Strike]** at the Avenger Knight, dealing about the same amount of damage in a much smaller attack.

The Avenger Knight roared as it got up, and then a wave of energy came from the Shadow.

Yosuke cursed and then ran towards Chie. "Looks like we gotta take it down now." He dispelled Jiraiya and held his Persona's card in his hand.

Chie nodded as she returned Tomoe to her card as well. "I was hoping that we didn't have to show this yet."

The two crushed their cards at the same time, their Personae swirling around each other for a moment. The air in the room quickly became a raging gale, focused mostly on the Avenger Knight. Soon, very sharp ice shards began to form in the gale, slashing at the Shadow many times.

The Avenger Knight was knocked around a lot in the storm, and as it died down, it was stabbed in the eye of the humanoid part of it, making it roar as it slowly dissolved.

Kōjin stared at the devastation, then chuckled. " _I think I like your friends. Call me again soon, okay?"_ He then dispelled himself with a laugh.

Yu looked over at Chie and Yosuke to find them panting on the ground. He ran over to them. "Hey! Are you guys okay?!" He crouched down next to the two.

Yosuke was on his back, still panting, and held up a thumb. "We're good! Just haven't done anything on that scale before."

Chie groaned as she slowly stood up. "Before you ask, it's something that we thought up to actually hit Dante when he was _training_ us. It's not done yet."

Yu nodded as he helped Yosuke to stand. "So, when could you use ice attacks Chie?"

Chie sighed. "I learned how to do that the same day Yosuke and I thought of that attack."

Yosuke nodded as he caught his breath. "Yeah. It was also the day when we figured out we could control our elements without our Personas on a much lesser scale. That's how Dante put it, at least. Right now, I'm exhausted by making a light breeze, and Chie can make a snow cone."

Chie glared at Yosuke, then sighed. "He's not wrong. But I still think it's impressive!"

Yu smiled. "It is. I haven't figured out how to just… manipulate elements yet. I might have a shortcut because of my power, but I can't do that stuff." He then looked over at where the Avenger Knight died and found a half of a mold for what looks like a key.

 **Glass Key Mold (Left Half)**

He then pocketed the mold and the Yen the Shadow dropped and dismissed the battle log after a quick look over. "Well, it's a good thing that Mistream had me level my **[Crafting]**... greedy bitch." He then took a look at his Status sheet and saw that he had enough points to get his WIS to 60. That would increase his MP regen a lot. He nodded to himself and increased his WIS to exactly 60, and placed his last free stat point into STR.

 **Congratulations! You have raised WIS above 50! You will now gain the corresponding skill and a random skill!**

 **Due to raising your WIS past 50 you have gained the skill [Elemental Connection]**

 **Elemental Connection** **(Passive): LVL: MAX EXP: MAX: Your heightened understanding of the world allows you to feel the components that make up the physical plane.**

 **Can now advance Elemental Affinities past [Low]**

 **Minimal connection to all elements**

 **Previous minimal connections have been upgraded to [Low]**

 **Can sense major disturbances regarding the elements**

 **Due to raising your WIS to abnormal levels, you have gained the skill [Spectral Connection]**

 **Spectral Connection** **(Passive): LV: MAX EXP: MAX: Your heightened understanding of the world allows you to see and feel what is not there.**

 **Allows interaction with spectral creatures**

 **Allows for combat with spectral creatures**

 **Sensing abilities can now pick up spectral threats**

Yu's eyes widened as he felt intense pain from his senses suddenly changing. It was mostly around his head, but once that pain faded, another much more intense feeling of pain coursed through his entire body. It felt like he was being burned, torn to shreds, electrocuted, drowned, buried alive, disintegrated, and getting torn apart from the inside out. He collapsed on the ground and tried to scream, but no sound came from him. Just as quickly as the pain appeared, it went away, leaving Yu panting heavily on the ground.

Teddie ran over to Yu and helped him to his feet. It was a slight struggle for the bear to even do that. "A-Are you okay Sensei? You looked like you were in a lot of pain."

Yu nodded as he caught his breath. "Yeah… I'm fine now Teddie. Just my power acting up." He dusted himself off and then smiled. "It would be easier to show you Ted. **Invite Teddie to party**."

 **Cannot add Shadows to your party.**

' _WHAT THE FUCK?!'_

* * *

 **Okay. So I apologize for leaving it off here, and for the shorter chapter, but I couldn't help but feel that this was a really good place to leave off. Next chapter should have a much more satisfying ending though. So! The poll results! I completely forgot about those when I posted the apology thing for taking a break! Here they are!**

 **Rise/Margaret: 32**

 **Marie: 28**

 **Mitsuru/Labrys: 26**

 **Naoto: 24**

 **Lolikano: 20**

 **Dante: 19**

 **Sho: 16**

 **Yukiko: 14**

 **Chie: 13**

 **Elizabeth: 7**

 **Yukari: 4**

 **Yosuke: 3**

 **Teddie/Akihiko/Fuuka: 2**

 **Kanji/OC: 1**

 **So, the harem will be Rise, Margaret, Marie, and Labrys OR Mitsuru, not both. I don't think that You could take five women being with him at once.**

 **Yu: I doubt that I can take more than one…**

 **You're not getting out of this harem mister! Anyways, review if you wish, and have a great day everybody!**


	12. Return of Verdant

**So, block went away when I exited the rough patch, and I'm well enough in the head to write this along with everything else. So let's just get into the reviews.**

 **Everyone who voted between Labrys and Mitsuru: There are so many people who voted for this, so I'll just clump you all together. Sorry. Suffice it to say, I decided to roll a fifty sided die, and lo and behold, it came up fifty, so he's gettin' both.**

 **Yu: Wait, I didn't agree to this!**

' **Yu' don't have to agree to shit!**

 **Revamped Persona, Astra Myst, An Individual who shall forever remain nameless, itsMARWIE, Nerfhearder69, and** **GamerFicsPls: Thank you for your wishes for getting over my writer's block, which I severely downplayed.**

 **Mary Sue Lover: Months ago I replied to you because I wasn't sure when this chapter would be coming out, but I'll answer for everyone else. 1: I have fixed the whole Gamer's mind thing, as I was still getting used to writing at the time. 2: I will list the skills at the end of the chapter because of what you pointed out. 3: It does gain EXP from passive usage, but not in the way you think. He gets it for investigating objects and discerning what they are without using the skill. It's not like he gets it for pointing out "Oh look, a rock." 4: That was a joke thing, and looking back on it, he should've been affected with the {Dazed} or {Stunned} status effect instead of losing that much HP, like you pointed out. 5: I do my best to avoid that now unless I can get away with it, as in just having the characters do a quick wink to the readers instead of blatantly breaking the fourth wall. 6: While that was also a joke, one must never underestimate the power Kinshiro Morooka has when it comes to pissing people off. It got him killed in the game, and I say that Gaia herself would've gotten pissed off, hence why it began to glitch out. That is my excuse. And thank you for your wishes!**

 **Disappointed: Why? I mean, I have a few ideas as to why, but what specifically?**

 **Cole shiryu: Writer's block is a hell of a thing.**

 **MysticSpider:...I will admit, it evolved into brooding at one point. And the reference was a stretch, but I was able to get it in there. Glad that you got it.**

 **Exiled Soul Nomad: Well, his secret isn't out, but no party for Teddie yet. And I like it as well. I have no regrets about it.**

 **Guesthouse: Yeah. Poor Ted. :'(**

 **MattKennedy: Thank you for sticking around for this long regardless! I did a poll and Harem just came out on top. It is how it is, and I'm gonna adapt my story to match it.**

 **M: Who's to say that they haven't met alre- oh, you mean in here. You'll have to wait and see, but it will be soon. Very soon.**

 **Jacob Dietz: Yeah, Persona 5 is going to be in this. I just didn't add in any of those characters to the original poll because it's so far off. I have big plans for the gamer! All three of them!**

 **Well, that took up a whole page. But I wanted to respond to you guys, so… there we go! And let's get into the chapter after...wow. Almost half a year. Enjoy!**

* * *

"Speech"/ "Different Language"

' _Thought'_

" _Telepathy"_

" _**Shadows"/ "Demons" / "Gods"**_

" **Spell Incantations"**

 **Windows/Skills**

* * *

Dante yawned as he laid on the roof of Yasogami High School. He was really bored. There were no demons to kill for some reason, no kids to tort- train, and no jobs. He's already on brat protection duty, so… "… Who the hell is calling me right now?" He answered his phone. "Yello?"

"Dante, we have a problem."

Dante groaned loudly. "The hell do you mean witch?"

Lolikano growled through her phone. "I mean that The Left Eye is here!"

Dante stared up at the sky, then sighed. "That explains why I'm so bored. No demon from Sparda's side of Hell attacks Umbran Witches. I'll take care of it." He hung up and then groaned. "It's gonna be one of _those_ days, huh?"

* * *

 _Yu looked around in the misty blackness. Occasional streaks of red and blue came through the mist. "So… why aren't you attacking me? Or… going away?"_

 _The shadow looked to his right at Yu._ " _ **Because even if you accept me, you still have to accept yourself."**_

 _Yu rolled his eyes. "At this point, I don't know where 'I' end and the game begins. Maybe it was a terrible mistake allowing that to happen to me."_

 _The shadow shook his head._ " _ **No. I don't think it was. You already have friends and it's only been about two weeks here. No one has tried to bully or kill you out of spite, and you're strong enough to defend yourself. What about that is a mistake?"**_

 _Yu shrugged as he looked up at the black sky. "That's true… but why me? It said that I lucked out, but there's no chance that I'm that lucky. Either I'm just an idiot, or-"_

 _The shadow nodded._ " _ **Or someone else is pulling the strings."**_

" _Just like usual." He looked over at his shadow. Instead of it being a perfect mirror image, it was heavily scarred, his clothes tattered, and the usual yellow-eyed glow of a shadow just a very dull light instead. He was very hurt. And almost broken. A true reflection of him indeed._

* * *

Yu stared at the notification, dumbfounded, then shook his head. "Weird. My power's being finicky for some reason. It's saying that I'm not allowed to have bears in my party."

Teddie growled. "Your power is so mean sensei! What do I have to do to make it accept me?!"

Yu chuckled with a smile. "I'm not sure that there's anything _you_ can do Ted. I'll try to make it see reason." He then turned towards the door, his thoughts going a mile a minute. ' _Teddie's a Shadow. He's a fucking SHADOW! H-How is that even possible?! He doesn't know what he is, and he knows what Shadows are, so how the hell is h-'_

 **[Gamer's Mind] has been activated.**

He took a deep breath. ' _Doesn't matter. As long as he isn't attacking us, he's an ally. And a friend.'_

 **For overlooking the blinding fact that Teddie is of the enemy race, and is still him, you have gained +2 WIS!**

 **!QUEST COMPLETE!**

 **A 'Bear'y fine mystery!**

 **Primary objective: Discover what Teddie is!**

 **Secondary objective: Get Teddie's WIS stat to 25 before he figures out for himself!**

 **Hidden objective**

 **Reward: + 10 INT**

Yosuke walked over to the other door and pushed it slightly, the doors opening very easily. "We should get going."

Yu nodded and then walked over to the door and his eye twitched slightly. "More stairs…"

Chie growled. "Not again! Is this going to be a normal thing in here?!"

Yu groaned and then began to walk forward. "We've wasted enough time. We only have a few more hours to get to her before we have to call it quits." ' _Though time seems to be moving much more slowly in here than out there.'_

Yosuke paled. "Crap! Then we need to hurry! Let's go!" He dashed forward and up the stairs, his exhaustion seemingly gone.

Chie's eyes burned with determination as she rushed after Yosuke.

 **[Deception] has gained a level!**

Yu chuckled and looked back towards Teddie. "Come on. We need our support if we're going to keep going."

Teddie grinned and gave Yu a salute. "Yes sir, sensei sir!" He then ran up the stairs after the other teammates.

" _You do realize that-"_

"I know Pixie. But they needed the motivation." Yu smiled as he walked towards the stairs, then began to dash up them. Half-way up the flight, he cast **[Haste]** on himself and got a level in it. He reached the top panting again, with Yosuke and Chie trying to catch their breaths.

 **Why does it have to be stairs?! +1 VIT**

Yu chuckled at that. "Okay, guys. Let's keep moving." And he was about to do that when a soft ringing noise came from everywhere.

Yukiko hummed softly. Her voice echoed from the walls. "My Prince will soon come for me…" She then giggled. "I'll always be waiting for him…"

Teddie looked around. "That's weird… her voice is coming from the walls… be careful everyone! She might have more control of this place than we thought!"

Chie growled to herself. "Yukiko, I will save you!" She was about to run ahead again when Yu grabbed her wrist.

Yu shook his head. "Don't fall for the shadow's tactic. Stay with the group." He then saw his **[Sense Danger]** skill go off, warning him of a group of Shadows heading straight for them. He shifted his stance and his **[Elemental Enhancement]** to accommodate for the lightning going over the blade. "Remember, we need to conserve our energy as much as possible." He then walked forward and conjured up Izanagi's card. He swiped his hand to the side, shattering it and calling forth his Persona in an inferno of blue flames. Yu smirked and then dashed towards the Shadows that came within visual range of the rest of his party.

Yosuke sighed and then shook his head. "'Conserve energy' he says!" He then ran after Yu and decided to try something different and throw his Hunting Nata's at the nearest Shadow with all of his strength. The blades pierced into a Hablerie easily, though they nearly fell short of their mark.

Chie dashed forward and then dropkicked the same Hablerie, forcing the blades through it and killing it. She landed on her hands and flipped backward, almost tripping up on the landing as she was more focused on summoning Tomoe and having her Persona use the ability **[Skull Cracker]** onto a Pesce, killing it. She grimaced in pain.

Yu looked at the Natas and figured that he might as well grab them. He sheathed his blade and then picked up the smaller blades and smirked. ' _Switch Persona, Pixie'_. Izanagi was engulfed in blue flames and in his place was a different card. Yu spun around and slashed that open and instead of an inferno, the flames sprouted from the card and then extended towards the ground and the floor in a spiral. In that spiral formed a small woman with short brown hair wearing blue spandex. She had transparent butterfly wings on her back.

" _You called?"_ Pixie looked around, then smiled and turned towards Chie and held her hands towards her. Her hands became bathed in a soft green light for a moment, then Chie was surrounded in the same light.

 **Due to your Persona having the innate ability to cast this skill, you have discovered the skill [Dia]**

 **You must learn the skill before you may use it on your own.**

Yu smiled. "Thanks, Pixie." He then looked around and saw that the two remaining Shadows, which were Hableries, were charging towards Chie. He dashed over to them and then stabbed both of the enemies from behind.

 **You have used the skill [Backstab] without meeting the prerequisites! You gained 10% EXP to [Dagger Mastery]**

He then smirked and slashed them again as he dove in between the two Shadows. He rolled forward and skidded to a halt in front of Yosuke. He tossed the Nata's back up to Yosuke and then ran at the Shadows again, holding onto his katana. His face became blank as he analyzed the weak points of the Shadows and guessed that their jaws were the most fragile part of their body, so just as he reached them, he cast **[Haste]** on himself, then dashed in between them while drawing his blade and slashing through the one on the left, skidding to a halt and then sheathed his blade. The Shadow suddenly split in half, blood shooting from the slash as it dissolved.

 **You have used the skill [Zantetsuken] without meeting the prerequisites! You have gained 10% EXP in [Sword Mastery]**

Chie dashed ran towards the remaining Shadow and used its head as a springboard for her to jump into the air. Tomoe appeared behind Chie and then seemed to phase into her body. Chie smirked as she grabbed onto the dual bladed Naginata that appeared in her hands in a burst of blue flames, and she yelled as she fell towards the Shadow and skewered it, the weapon stabbing into the ground slightly. The Shadow quickly dissolved, as did the weapon. "Well! I think that went well!"

Yu nodded and took a look at the battle log to see that he had gained three levels in **[Dagger Mastery]** , one in **[Sword Mastery]** , 168 EXP, 710 Yen, 2 Big Incisors, and 1 Idea Paper. "Yeah, considering that we didn't get hit." He looked back up at Pixie and waved at her.

Pixie waved back just before she dispelled herself.

Yu looked back at Teddie, who briefly had stars in his eyes. "So any idea where we need to go from here Teddie?"

Teddie blinked, then hummed a bit. "Give me a minute to sniff out the area Sensei!" He then began to sniff the air.

Yosuke deadpanned. "Oh my god, he's actually sniffing out the area."

Teddie smiled and then opened the door right next to them to reveal the stairs.

The group groaned loudly.

* * *

Dante chuckled as he casually walked up to Bayonetta, seeing her finish her recent slaughter of Angels. "Hey there, witchy!"

Bayonetta groaned and then looked back at Dante. "Hello, Devil spawn." She slammed her heel into the ground, making a much larger foot come out of a portal and crush another angel.

Dante pulled Rebellion out and twirled it a bit. "See, you get it right, unlike that other bitch. Tell me, why the hell are you here?"

Bayonetta smirked as she popped a red rose lollipop into her mouth. "Well, I am currently trying to take a vacation, however, these ugly creatures are keeping me from enjoying myself." She looked behind her and dodged out of the way of a Compassion angel and killed it. "As you can see, they are fairly weak, but still a nuisance."

Dante smirked as he stepped out of the way of the body. "Well, I don't want to step on your toes, but Angels are bad for business. And seeing as they hunt you, that means that you gotta go."

Bayonetta scoffed. "I'm not the only one they're hunting. There's a grey-haired boy that has killed a fair few of their ranks. They'll be after him now as well."

Dante groaned. "That idiot…" He then slashed through one that was going after Bayonetta. "So you're saying that instead of doing the smart thing and running away, he decided to kill them?!"

Bayonetta shrugged as she simply backhanded another flying angel. "To be fair, I don't believe that he knew the ramifications of his action. But on the plus side, that's one more person who's fucking with those disgusting creatures up there!" She heard the groaning of a centaur-like angel who was dragging itself towards her. She walked over to it and kicked it hard in the face. "Oh shut up!"

Dante snickered. "You treat them the same way I treat demons."

Bayonetta stepped on the Angel's face and ground her heel against it. "How's that working out for you right now?" She then fired the pistol on her leg, executing the angel.

Dante shrugged. "I can't complain about much, except for the fact that I have to pose as a school teacher. But yeah, I'm still gonna have to ask you to leave so I can get to work, okay?"

Bayonetta yawned as she stared at Dante. She then smirked. "Why don't you try to make me?"

Dante grinned as he stepped into a more laid back battle stance. "Just what I wanted to hear!" He then appeared behind Bayonetta in a flash of silver and began to attack her at blinding speeds, but with the Umbran Witch dodging all of his attacks. "You've gotten faster!"

Bayonetta smirked as she dodged Dante's attacks, then snapped. "No touching~" The world became purple and she flipped over the Son of Sparda and threw her hands into infernal portals, swapping out Prelude and Minuet from her Love is Blue set, which Rodin named, and drew Shuraba and smiled.

Dante closed his eyes and a pulse of silver energy came from him. The silver mixed with the purple. Dante also became surrounded by a dim silver light. "I thought that you learned from the last time that this trick doesn't work on me!" He dashed towards Bayonetta and then slammed Rebellion down towards her, being blocked by her katana.

Bayonetta smirked. "Of course I learned. I simply wanted to get that speed of yours out of the picture." She then heard Dante's coat shift slightly. She quickly shifted into a swarm of bats to dodge a bullet from Ebony. She reformed a few feet from the demon hunter. "That was a dirty trick." She then snapped and portals opened up around her feet to replace Toccata and Nocturne with a set of lightning Durga.

Dante smirked and put Ebony into his coat, then Rebellion on his back. "Yeah, well this is what happens when you fight monsters from another dimension. You get dirty." His arms became demonic for a split second as he changed his weapon to black gauntlets and greaves that were outlined with white. He ran over to Bayonetta and began to punch at her, a dim flash of light coming from the limb that hit the witch's weapons.

Bayonetta pushed Dante away from her and then quickly shifted her hand weapons to the fire Durga set and she smirked. "Come now, fighting these creatures that call themselves angels is much dirtier work than demon hunting." She then dashed at him in her panther form and snarled ferally as she pounced at Dante, shifting back quickly and slashing at the grey-haired man, a smirk on her face.

Dante blocked the fire claws with a different set of gauntlets, the claws being blocked by a flaming dragon head. "Oh, that's bullshit!" He kicked Bayonetta hard in the stomach, a pillar of flames coming from the kick. "My guys bleed a lot, and that blood doesn't go away! Do you know how many times I've had to get this coat cleaned?" He ran towards Bayonetta again and threw another punch at her, which was blocked by Bayonetta wielding two energy blades.

Bayonetta chuckled. "Yes but angels cause much more collateral damage, and it gets boring trying to keep that from happening. Then there are the people that they kill with that damage, knocking down buildings and such." She then drew a demonic seal in front of her, then smirked and drove the blades into the ground. A large beam of green energy came from the seal in front of her, sending Dante flying. She slowly stood and then snapped and switched her lightning Durga to Odette, a pair of skates that left a trail of ice under the blades. She opened a portal under her and dove under it. She then fell out of the air above Dante and landed in a low crouch, ice spikes being forced from the ground around her, which impaled Dante.

Dante groaned as he swapped weapons again and then broke the ice spike with a triple nunchaku weapon called Cerberus. "Damn it! Why do I always get stabbed from behind?! Do you know how many impalements this coat has suffered?!" He pushed himself off of the half spike just as it shattered. He then began to attack Bayonetta so fast that he was leaving after images of himself. And that wasn't just the Doppelganger that he had go behind the witch. "And if you want to talk collateral damage, look at what happened with that giant statue demon!"

Bayonetta groaned as she blocked as many of Dante's attacks from hitting her with her energy blades. "Yes, but that was a one-time thing! For angels, that's every day!" She suddenly began to spin on the tips of Odette, making another portal and then falling through it to get behind Dante, then used the momentum of the spin to hit Dante many times in the back. She watched the Doppelganger dispel and then smirked. "Can you say the same about your lowly demons?"

Dante grabbed onto Bayonetta's ankle and threw her far away with ease, and then dashed towards her at his top speed. He pretty much flickered to where Bayonetta would land and smirked. Once she fell close enough, he began to wail on her with a flurry of attacks faster than the witch could follow. He then slammed the weapon into the ground and caused ice spikes to shoot from the ground and impale Bayonetta. "Not so fun on the receiving end, huh?" He then switched over to a pair of gauntlets that were primarily metal but had purple flame decor that faded into red. They connected to a piece of metal on his back that seemed to resemble a pair of hellish wings. He rolled his shoulders and a mask came up over his mouth and nose as he reeled back for a punch, the saw on the shoulder of his weapon spinning violently. The center of the saw flashed and he immediately hit Bayonetta hard with a rising uppercut, shattering the spike and sending her into the air. "You had enough?"

Bayonetta spun around into the air and landed on her feet, the hole in her chest already closing. She popped a green lollipop that had six leaves on it into her mouth. "Not even close! We haven't even reached the climax of the battle!" She smirked and then a purple light came from the witch, briefly blinding Dante. The light faded and she was surrounded by a purple glow.

Dante stared and then sighed. "Really? Your big transformation is that you glow? That's not really that exci-" He was interrupted by a punch to the face by a very large hand coming from a portal. "Okay, I guess we're doing this!" He quickly drew Rebellion from his back and then cried out as demonic energy pulsed from his body. He breathed heavily as lightning coursed over his body. He looked up at Bayonetta, his body now much more reptilian in nature, his arms and legs red and black with spikes protruding from them. His face was now red with more spines growing from the sides of his head outward. His coat now appeared segmented and had a likeness to insect wings. He saw a portal open up in front of him, and a very large fist came from it. He held his hand out and caught the fist with ease, the wind around them becoming a raging gale due to the force of the attack. He suddenly grabbed onto the fist and began to drag whatever was attached to it through the portal. " _ **Come on out!"**_

Bayonetta dashed over to Dante and then hit him very hard in the face with a spin kick. Though Dante didn't budge, she smirked and held her hand to the side. **"Alcrete!"** A very large chainsaw appeared in her hand, fully revved up and running. She then drove the blade into Dante's back, causing him to bleed. She also witnessed Dante release Madama Butterfly's hand. "I don't think taking a lady's hand without her permission is good for your health Dante!"

Dante growled and grabbed onto Bayonetta's leg and then slammed her hard into the ground. " _ **Enough cheesy retaliations! I'm ending this!"**_ He then raised his clawed hand into the air and stabbed down at Bayonetta. He then smirked as he pressed his claws against her chest. " _ **Do you give up yet?"**_

Bayonetta looked at Dante, then his claws and sighed. "Very well! I admit my defeat." She then kicked Dante in the crotch just as he shifted back. She pushed the stunned man off of her and dusted herself off. "Never come in contact with my chest again or I won't hesitate to kill you."

Dante looked at his hand, then shrugged. "Yeah, I can live with that." He then jumped up onto his feet. "So, you don't plan on leaving, do you?"

Bayonetta smirked. "Of course not. And I don't believe you plan on leaving either."

Dante nodded. "I'm on a job. Can't leave until it's done or Trish will take my cards and go shopping." He looked around and saw a mass of Angels had been avoiding them throughout the fight. "..." He shot one in the face with Ivory. "The hell are all you looking at?"

Bayonetta placed a hand on her hip as she looked the crowd over. "They need to learn a lesson in spying, wouldn't you say Dante?" She opened portals around her hands and feet, retrieving her Love is Blue set and smirking.

Dante sighed and then spun Rebellion around a bit. "Yeah, they do." He then rushed towards the crowd alongside Bayonetta, finally able to enjoy himself for once.

* * *

The Investigation Team were panting heavily as they reached the top of the stairs of the fifth floor. Even with them conserving most of their energy, avoiding battles as much as they could, and taking small breaks within empty rooms, the stairs are the major problem of this dungeon. Yosuke looked up at the ceiling. "Yukiko? If…you can hear…us…please…let this torture end soon!"

Yu looked at his Inventory and then sighed. "Teddie, you can navigate us back here, right?"

Teddie chuckled. "Well, this world changes from day to day, but I think that in cases like this, if you leave the castle and come back today, then you'll be able to return to the same floor!"

Yu nodded, then pulled out a Goho-M and crushed the small orb. A bright light enveloped the party and they returned to the entrance of the castle.

Chie glared at Yu. "Why did you do that?! We were getting close! I can feel it!"

Yu sighed. "We're going back in, but we should rest up in a safe area. Besides, I need to do something very important and I don't think that we can do it in there." He turned and began to walk towards the entrance.

Yosuke shrugged and began to go with Yu.

Chie gawked at Yosuke. "Yosuke, what are you doing?! We need to get back in there!"

Yosuke looked back at Chie. "He's right. We need to take a break longer than five minutes. And that castle isn't exactly safe. We should do it where we can leave this place easily."

Chie thought, then sighed. "We're coming back though, right?"

Teddie smiled at Chie. "Don't worry Chie-chan! When Sensei promises to do something, he does it!"

Chie smiled softly after a moment. "Right." She then followed the group to the entrance.

Yu immediately walked towards the blue ethereal door and entered the Velvet Room. He sat down in his place and smiled at the four residents. "So, any progress on the whole 'personae are imprisoned and tortured inside of me' thing?"

Igor chuckled. "Unfortunately no, however, we have encountered a being that I have personally taught, and she has her own room of the soul. It's not just coincidence that you happen to possess the color of green as well as blue." He then waved his hand and the door to Yu's right became green. "They would like to have a word."

Yu looked at the door, then nodded as he reached for it. He opened the door and then looked around to see that it was a green elevator. "… Huh." He then stepped out of the blue limo and into the elevator to see a woman with long black hair, very fair skin, and some burn marks reaching up from her torso and onto her neck.

The woman chuckled. "Welcome to the Verdant Room. It's been some time since we've had a visitor. Please-" She gestured to a blonde haired man wearing a white dress shirt, black dress pants, black shoes, and a green vest with a green bow tie. The man snapped and a chair formed from the ground. "- take a seat."

Yu stared at the two, and then hesitantly walked over to the chair and sat down into it. "Quick question before anything else. Why are we going down?"

The woman smirked. "That is because while Igor and his assistants assist your journey through your murder mystery, we are here to assist into your decent."

Yu's eyes narrowed. "Into what…?"

The woman looked up at Yu to reveal her lavender eyes. "Why, into the Abyss, of course."

* * *

Mitsuru slowly set the file that she had received on Narukami Yu. It looks like he legally changed his name six years ago, and that his life before and after the change was… undesirable to say the least. Despite the scars that Narukami revealed to her, Akihiko and Aigis, it seems that his parents weren't the only point of grief in his life. Constantly bullied, even at Gekkoukan, to the point of physical violence. Though while it was bad there, it was much worse when he was in junior high. He seemed to transfer schools at some point, though the dates lined up with the deaths of ten children. Those children were burned to a crisp, though from the autopsy, it was like they were struck by lightning.

There was a knock on the door. "Kirijo-san?"

Mitsuru looked up from the file and then sighed. "Come in, Aigis."

Aigis walked into the office and then closed the door directly behind her. "All supplies are ready for transport to Inaba."

Mitsuru nodded. "Very good Aigis. You are to leave immediately. When can you be expected to depart?"

Aigis closed her eyes for a moment. "My arrival is dependant on several factors, but I would estimate to arrive within four hours, if I leave immediately."

Mitsuru hummed, then nodded again. "Very well, you are to leave as soon as possible. The mission will be complete when the eradication of the Shadow nest in Inaba has been carried out."

Aigis nodded, then turned to walk out.

"And Aigis?"

The automaton girl turned to Mitsuru. "Yes, Kirijo-san?"

Mitsuru sighed again. "Just be careful."

* * *

A red-headed woman with her hair up in a ponytail walked around the shopping district of Inaba. "So, I'm in a place called Inaba in Japan." She sighed, exasperated. "That's… _great_ … always wanted to get out of Seoul." She looked around and then sighed. "At least there shouldn't be too many people in the Abyss here."

Lolikano was watching the girl from above with a snicker. She lowered herself down on her broom and then uncloaked. She spoke to the girl in Korean because she could. "Hey! Why's a Korean in Japan?"

The girl flinched, then created an Illusion Barrier to punch whoever spooked her with a fist of fire. She hesitated when she saw who it was. "T-The Witch of Slaughter…"

Lolikano nodded and hopped off of the broom. "So, let's just hope that you speak Japanese because I don't think that you'll be leaving soon. You're here for a reason, and that reason needs to be punched in the face when they show up."

The girl sighed. "Yes, I speak Japanese, I was taught as a child."

Lolikano clapped her hands. "Great! Let's get you registered for school then!"

The girl glared. "No. I am not going to go to another sch-" She froze as she felt the air grow cold.

Lolikano was looking at the girl with a sweet smile. "Did I say you had a choice, little girl?"

The girl shivered as the flames on her hands were snuffed out. "I-I…"

"Excuse me."

The two looked to the side to see a blonde girl wearing a Yasoami High uniform. Her eyes were an impossible blue and she wore a red ribbon around her neck. There was also this odd headband that she wore.

Aigis stared at the two. "Do you two know where Yasogami High is?"

* * *

 **Alright! Sorry that this took so long, but school exams are horrible. I felt like I should cut it off here so that I could actually relay a message to everyone. So… here it goes. I might not be able to continue writing. My stories may be taken down for no reason at all. This is because I live in America, and net neutrality is gone. So if I do stop posting for some reason, or my stories disappear, do not worry, because I have them all saved, and when this clusterfuck of a problem gets fixed, things will be back to normal. In the meantime, I'll still keep posting until my storied** _ **do**_ **get deleted. And when that gets fixed, I'll post all of the old chapters plus a new one when I put them back up, and post one of my new chapters each week. I will be able to do this because I plan to never stop. You guys honestly give me the push I need to even get out of bed, and… I couldn't be happier doing what I do, even if it isn't for a living just yet. W-Well anyways, Sorry again for the long wait, and the shorter chapter, and I'll see you guys in the next chapter. Happy holidays!**


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